The Good Life
by TheRedPenofDoom87
Summary: All's fair in love and war, and college and magic and life in general. With Horvath still on the loose, Dave, Becky, Balthazar and Veronica anticipate the worst and find that they're in for the ride of their life. Rated for language and some themes.
1. Chapter 1

**So obviously this is my first foray into this particular fandom...It took a while to kind of get a hang of these characters but I think I've found a nice idea, one that I will be expanding on if I continue. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. it's all disney except for the music and the shakespeare and yeah I know he wasn't from 690 AD, it just fit so well. **

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* * *

****Hadrian's Wall: 690 AD**

"_**By the pricking of my thumbs,/Something wicked this way comes." ~ "**__**Macbeth" Act 4, scene 1, 44–49. Shakespeare**_

As Morgana rode through the little village in North Umbria, the villagers pulled back as she passed. Mothers pressed their children into their aprons, men made the sign of the cross against their chests. As if that could help them.

But Morgana smiled to herself. She'd worked hard for her reputation and it was preceding her wherever she went. Merlin, of course, was always a step or two ahead. But this particular move was something even Merlin hadn't seen coming. And soon he and his apprentices would be out-numbered. The plan was already set in motion.

Horvath had been easy to turn; all she had to do was show him how Veronica had chosen Balthazar instead of him. And he had crumbled. The fools who stitched their hearts so boldly on their sleeves were the most….receptive to Morgana's charms. He was powerful and ambitious, not to mention, hurt and angry. But he was only a stepping stone. Just the beginning.

"My Lady Morgana…" The innkeeper, who had summoned her to this wretched outpost, stepped out into the street. He gave a little bow and took her horse. "Will Master Horvath be joining us?"

"No," Morgana sniffed as the innkeeper tied the chestnut mare to the hitching post. "He is not to know about this. Do you understand?"

The man nodded. "Yes my Lady. I understand."

"Now where is the child you wrote to me about?" Morgana sniffed, throwing her traveling scarf more securely over her shoulders. "I have very little time to waste."

"Yes my Lady. This way." He led her farther into the dingy inn. "Here." He pointed to the fire place where a little dark lump lay curled up under a cheap wool blanket. "Her mother…" he shook his head.

"And you're sure about the woman? Are you sure it was Elowen?"

"I saw her with my own eyes," the innkeeper replied. "She's gone…vanished. Left the little thing here."

Morgana nodded. "I see. And she's special?"

The man shifted his weight from foot to foot. "From the moment I saw her, she reminded me of you."

As Morgana stepped closer, the floor squeaked and the little lump sat up instantly, eyes wide and alert. She was a tiny creature, pale but her face smudged with soot from the fire and nearly swallowed up by her far too large and dirty tunic. Her dark matted hair hung in ropes around her thin shoulders.

The girl gazed up at Morgana with eyes that made her jump back. So familiar….And strangely, the sorceress was reminded of herself. There was strength in that solemn gaze that even the child was not aware of herself. And a drive and will that could not and would not be denied.

"What is your name, child?" Morgan knelt down next to her.

The child, who couldn't been more than six or seven, squinted her dark eyes. "Who are you?" Her tiny voice rang with an authority far beyond her years.

Morgana smiled. While she did not allow for such blatant disrespect, this…child sparked her imagination. "My name is Morgana."

The girl frowned. "Me Mum called me Meave a' cuz I was trouble. She left. I don't know where. " She looked down at the fire, the once proud and defiant set to her shoulders rounded into a profound sadness. One that Morgana could definitely use to her advantage.

"Oh?" Morgana swept a red curl off her forehead as she settled herself on the floor. "They call me a trouble maker as well."

Maeve twisted her dirty fingers together. "Why?"

Morgana laughed. "Because I don't follow the rules."

A hint of a smile tugged at Maeve's mouth. "I don't like the rules either."

She was perfect. Maeve had the blood-line, the hurt and the drive to make Morgana proud. The sorceress laid her thin hand on the child's dark head. "You know Maeve, I like you very much. How would you like to come with me? I have a lot I can teach you."

The girl's eyes sparkled.

* * *

**NYU, present day**

"_**If I could open my arms/ And span the length of the isle of Manhattan,/ I'd bring it to where you are/ Making a lake of the East River and Hudson," ~ Death Cab for Cutie, "Marching Bands of Manhattan"**_

There was nothing quite like New York in the fall, Becky thought as she left her first class of her junior year of college. Well, actually, as of this particular moment, it was still really more like summer. It was a sweltering ninety degree September day, but probably one of the last. But that was beside the point. The first day of school was like New Years Eve in a way; full of new starts, new friends, and new adventures even if it was searing outside.

She waved to a few of the girls she'd been friendly with before the professor handed out the syllabi. All of them were Liberal Arts majors too; there was a History major, an English, and an International Studies. And a little good will with these girls would buy her more of an option to skip and not have to worry too much about getting notes.

"Hey! Becky!" One of the girls, the tall brunette Anthropology major trotted after her. "A couple of us are going to get iced coffee. Wanna come?"

"Sorry," Becky checked her cell phone and winced at the time. "I've got to meet my boyfriend in like…two minutes in Washington Square. It's the only time I get to see him today. Next time, though." She promised and waved as she sped up, putting her ear buds in as she crossed the street. She flicked through the playlists until she found the song she was looking for. The familiar notes filled Becky's ears and she tapped out the beat on her thigh as she walked. Few other students who walked with her noticed; everyone else was as absorbed in their music as Becky was in hers.

That's what she loved about music. One song, one set of notes could banish a bad mood, make you forget what ever worry you might have, it could take you back to a specific moment in time. No matter where you could go or what you would do, once you hear those notes…you go back to whatever it might be and re-experience it all over again.

This particular song always took her back to _that_ moment. _"__I need another story/ Something to get off my chest /My life gets kinda boring /Need something that I can confess…" _She could almost feel the electricity hum through the air, making the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Although, the electricity was not the only reason for it….

And of course waiting for her at the bench in Washington Square was that other reason. Becky smiled to herself and slowed her stride, quieting her footsteps. She moved between other students and hid behind tall business men who were too distracted by their cell phone conversations to notice her. She tiptoed up to him and tapped him on the left shoulder while stepping to the right.

Dave turned, confused, as Becky slid into the spot next to him. "Hey," she yanked her headphones out of her ears. "How was your first class?"

Dave shrugged. "Not bad. It's gonna be a fun I think."

Becky laughed. "Only you would say…" she grabbed his class schedule half-hanging out of his back pack. "that 'Experimental Physics' would be fun. Oooh and Quantum Mechanics. Fun stuff…And you're TA ing for Dr. Teara all afternoon for Beginning Physics Lab."

"That goes until four in the afternoon. A bunch of liberal arts hippies trying to do science." Dave rolled his eyes. "I'm going to have to explain the difference between a wave and a particle like…fifty times a class."

"Hey," she poked him in the ribs. "I _am_ one of those liberal arts hippies."

"But you know the difference between a wave and a particle." Dave pointed out. "I made sure of that."

Becky nodded. "I remember, nerd."

"Nerd? Really? That's all you got?" he snatched her schedule away from her and hid it behind his back.

"Give it!" She nearly climbed into his lap trying to steal it back. "Give it! I gotta go to class soon!"

But Dave kept it well out of reach, laughing the whole time. So Becky did the only thing she could. She stopped suddenly and smiled sweetly at him. She reached up with one hand and laid it on his cheek. He stilled instantly. Becky reached around and seized the piece of paper with nimble fingers. She dangled it in front of him and grinned. "You're so easy."

Dave sat back, frowning. "You know, that's not funny."

Becky laughed and looped her arm through his. "But it's so easy, it's hard not to."

"So what did have this morning again? Something about bagpipes?"

"You're funny." She pulled out her schedule from her bad. "It's 'Introduction to Celtic Music' and it's not just bag pipes, there are harps and reeds and other stuff too."

Dave nodded solemnly, looking only at Becky. "Harps…sounds like lots of fun."

Becky rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad. I played you some of the stuff I have over the summer."

"I fell asleep."

"It really isn't your style," Becky conceded.

Dave grabbed both schedules and looked at them side by side. He finally looked up at her. "I'm never going to see you, am I?"

"Nope," she replied with a small smile.

"Don't sound so happy about it," he groused.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, lingering there for just a second. "We got spoiled over the summer. We'll just have to figure something out, okay?"

He slipped one hand behind her neck and pulled her closer. "Okay," he agreed just before he kissed her, winding his fingers into her hair. Becky returned it just as eagerly and pressed herself closer.

And then the alarm on his phone went off. They pulled back to reality. "I've got to go. I've got…" he shook his head. "Something."

"You should probably figure that out before you walk halfway across Manhattan." Becky replied with a smile sitting back against the bench.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that." He grinned as he stuffed his schedule into his bag.

"Have fun," she waved. "Do you want me to come by tonight after work?"

Dave rubbed his eyes. "I do want you to but Balthazar…"

Becky stood, smiling a little sadly. "Yeah, I know. Tomorrow's a better day?"

He nodded, "Much better."

She cupped his chin in her hand, running her finger under his lower lip. "I'll be by tomorrow then."

"And I'll be listening tonight."

"I'm going to test you!"

* * *

The dock light flickered went out for a moment. The darkness swallowed up the dock, with only the light from the stars and the New York City sky line flickering across the wooden planks. There were no sounds apart from the echo of the traffic on Manhattan and the lulling of the water as the tide came back in.

Just as quickly as it went out, the light flickered back to life. Where the dock was once empty, stood an imposing figure. He was broad of chest and tall to match. Unlike what one might find on the docks at this particular time of night, he was dressed in fine clothes, though a little shabby as if he was not able to keep them up the way he once did. But the marmot fur lined collar on his jacket was still soft and beautiful. Rings of varying size decorated his thick fingers. But the most impressive jewel was the bright blue that rested at the top of his cane under his thumb.

He cleared this throat, as if to give an important speech, and stepped to the very edge of the dock. He looked out at the vast inky waters that reflected the lights from the city like a massive mirror. The full moon hung low in the sky, tinged with a soft golden hue and it too had a sister image lying in the Hudson Bay. The man let out a deep breath, as if he had been holding it for a very long time.

_So many names to chose from,_ he thought. _Which one? Which one to use?_

He tapped his chin once, then twice before he decided on one. He lifted his lapis topped cane and closed his eyes. The jewel atop the hilt glowed brighter than the dock light ever could.

As if born from the shadows cast by the glow, something moved. It twisted out from the docks but did not settle upon the water.

"Go!" The man urged the twisting smoke. "Go! There isn't much time…."

The smoke slithered away into the vast darkness of the Atlantic Ocean. And just as he was before, the man was alone on the dock with the flickering light.

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**so, what did you guys think? Should I continue or stop while I'm ahead of myself? Feedback is always appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**Sorry this chapter is so**__** short, but it just couldn't be longer with what I have planned. But enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. Its all Disney, Winston Churchill and Snow Patrol.**__**"**__**Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.**__**"**__**Sir Winston Churchill**_

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_I gotta say it_. He told himself._ Next time I see her, I'll just say It._ He had been arguing with himself for the past hour or so as Balthazar threw one thing after another at him. He should have been focusing on what Balthazar was teaching him, he should have let everything else outside the training circle and yet… this had been bugging him since this morning and no matter how many times he told his students the definition of a particle versus a wave (yeah, he called it), this thing was still bothering him.

School had started almost two weeks ago and he'd seen Becky maybe four times since. And he absolutely hated it. Becky had been right, of course, they'd gotten spoiled over the summer. Both of them took the minimum amount of credits for summer classes and got to spend almost every day together. He'd planned to say those words to her on the last day of summer, he'd planned everything out but when the moment of truth came…nope, nothing. Nada.

"You're not focusing, Dave," Balthazar flicked his fingers and heard Dave's plaintive "ow" from below the cat walk. "Casting and maintaining multiple spells requires patience and concentration."

"So, what would be the point of this exactly?" Dave wondered, his voice echoing in the subway turn around.

"It's the first step to layering spells and-"

"And keeping up two or even three spells," Veronica picked up Balthazar's trail of thought as she came down into the lab, signaling that the lesson was almost finished for the day. She reached down and scratched behind Tank's ears who had sauntered up to her. "means you can protect yourself with a defensive spell and cast an offensive spells at the same time."

And even though she was dressed in more modern clothes (mainly thanks to Becky), Veronica still held an air of a bygone era. Veronica was there for most of the lessons since she'd been released from the Grimhold. Tonight though, she had been off doing….actually Dave had no idea what. But there was worry in her eyes and a strange tension in her movements. She stopped about a foot or so away from the training circle, and cocked her head to once side, frowning.

Dave looked around. "What?"

Veronica brought up one glowing hand and Dave had to block the plasma bolt with only seconds to spare. But the force of the bolt hitting his shield knocked him flat to the ground.

Veronica put her hand on a hip, a matching smirk on her lips. "You let your guard down. Don't."

Dave gave her a thumbs up from the ground. "Don't worry, on my guard all the time after this. Thanks.

"Back on your feet, Dave," Balthazar ordered as he made his way down from the cat walk to stand around the opposite end of the training circle from Veronica.

Dave stood finally glanced between them. "Something wrong, guys?"

Veronica's eyes flicked to Balthazar before they turned back to Dave.

"Guys….?" Dave backed away a little. "You're scaring me."

Suddenly, both of Veronica's palms glowed and a ring of fire shot up, blinding him. He stumbled back a few more feet as Veronica's bolts came screaming into view. He barely had enough time to pull up a shield to block them.

"Concentrate Dave!" Balthazar instructed. "Keep your mind clear. Listen to your instincts." He kept the flames climbing higher and higher as Veronica kept firing plasma bolt after plasma bolt.

"You can only keep that shield up for a little while!" Veronica chimed in as she volleyed a rather nasty bolt at him again. "You need to make a move!"

_Think nerd, think_ Dave bit his lower lip and then he saw it. Balthazar was off balance by just a hair. Keeping his shield up with one hand he knocked Balthazar to one side.

The fire wall fell leaving only Veronica to deal with.

"No hesitation," Balthazar coached. "She can take it."

But before Dave could do anything, Veronica stomped her foot and Dave once again flew to the floor but this time it was well outside the circle. He landed neatly beside his master beneath one of the Tesla coils. It echoed dully in the new silence.

Balthazar smiled as Veronica walked over to them. She knelt down next to him, one hand on his back. "Next time-" she began to Dave.

"Yep…I know. No hesitations." Dave groaned.

"You're coming along," Balthazar praised as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, slipping his hand into Veronica's. "You've got the instincts. Don't second guess yourself."

Dave rolled over onto his stomach and groaned. Tank waddled over, sat beside him and barked. "I'll remember that. But for now, Tank and I should get going." He checked his cell phone. "Beck's show is going to start soon."

"We all should go, it's late." Veronica pulled Balthazar to his feet. They said good night as they turned off all the lights. Out on the street, Balthazar and Veronica went their separate way, toward their new shop in Queens. A sudden fog rose up around them and they walked farther into it until Dave couldn't make out their shapes anymore. A subtle wind pushed through the city and the fog dissipated, leaving the city street empty.

_Note to self; ask him to teach me how to do that_ Dave thought as he and Tank began the few blocks walk to Marcy Avenue.

But as he passed under the overpass, Dave could have sworn that he heard footsteps. Normally, it would be a big deal, it was only nine on a Wednesday night in Brooklyn and it was the city that never slept. But there were very few people in this neighborhood, one of the reasons why the lab was in this area. As he walked, the footsteps sped up.

He stopped short and turned but no one was there. Another gust of wind blew between the buildings lifting pages of newspapers and probably parking tickets into a storm of swirling pieces of paper. The streetlamps were bright and buzzing with electricity. Nothing seemed off.

Dave looked down at Tank who looked up at him.

"Anyone there or am I just crazy?" He asked the dog. Tank gave a wet sniff and kept right on pulling toward home. "I guess I'm just crazy then."

As he followed Tank, this time, the sound of footsteps in the near empty streets. He slowed his pace, despite Tank's straining on the leash, trying to listen.

Dave casually glanced over his shoulder. Still there was no one behind him.

"I'm just tired," he told Tank. "It's been a long day."

Finally, Dave could make out the lights of his and Bennett's apartments and he hurried across the street. Just before he went inside though, he turned again. Still there was no one there.

For once the apartment was quiet, Dave realized as he let Tank off the leash. Bennett was off at a tutoring session and Tank shuffled back to his bed and promptly fell asleep, snoring like….well a tank.

He threw his backpack on the bed and turned on the radio. The radio crackled a little as Becky's voice filled the room. "Evening, New York City. For all you new listeners out there, I'm Becky Barnes coming to you live from NYUKW in Manhattan. I hope you're enjoying this Indian summer night just as much as I am. And I hope all my fellow NYU students are doing well, studying hard." She laughed. "And having some fun. And speaking of fun, here's one of my favorite Snow Patrol songs, going out to a very special guy who I hope isn't working too hard."

"_The earth is warm next to my ear/ Insects noise is all that I hear/ A magic trick makes the world disappear/ The skies are dark, they're dark but they're clear …"_

_

* * *

_

**Manhattan 9: 34 pm**

Dr. John Shapiro, head of the English department at NYU and professor of European Mythology, was finishing reviewing the last of the graduate student applications when the lights in his office flickered. They glowed bright and then shut off for a second. They came back on, as if nothing had happened. Dr. Shapiro looked up from his work and glanced around .

He checked his watch. It was well past nine. His wife was going to kill him. He promised that he would be back at a decent hour as he had been pulling late nights for the past week or so.

As soon as the lights returned, there was a knock at the door. Probably just Lucie, his administrator telling him that she was leaving for the night. John put the list into the out box for the next morning and went to the door.

He opened it but the hallway was dark. Not a soul in sight. "Lucie?" John called. "You there?" There was no answer. There was only the creaking of the building around him and the hum of the office lights. "Hello? Is someone there?"

John turned back into his office and there in front of his desk sat a small girl, no older than eight or so; his youngest daughter's age. Her dark hair was matted and unkempt and her tiny body was swallowed up by her dark dress that was far too big for her. She looked up at him with huge mournful eyes, her pale face covered in dirt and soot.

"Hello?" John knelt down next to her. "What's your name?"

The girl stared at him with hard eyes. "What's yours?"

"I'm John. John Shapiro. What are you doing in my office? How did you get passed the security desk?"

The girl sat up a little taller. "I'm Maeve." She said as if that answered all his questions.

John sat back. "Maeve? As in the warrior queen? From the Irish legends?"

The girl didn't reply. She stood and wandered over to one of John's bookshelves, running her fingers across the book spines as she walked. She almost seemed amazed by the sheer number of books in one place, she couldn't take her eyes off them.

"Do you know where you live, Maeve? Queens? Manhattan?" John tried. "Do you know your phone number?"

Maeve, ignoring him, yanked a rather large text off one of the shelves. She was so thin the weight of it nearly toppled her. When she settled on the ground with it, she flipped through the pages until she came to a painting. With a small sigh, she let her tiny hand drift across the page almost lovingly. "I have to find her. She said that we had work to do."

"What kind of work?" John sat next to her, his cell phone in hand. He looked over Maeve's shoulder to see the painting she'd found. "Maeve…."

The girl turned, eyes hard, and placed her tiny hands on either side of John's face. He couldn't move or speak but he couldn't look away from the girl's eyes as they grew brighter and brighter.

* * *

**And now things get really interesting... stick around! **


	3. Chapter 3

All righty heres the next chapter, and no cliffie this time, thought I can't promise the last one will be the last ;)

**Dislcaimer: I own nothing at all, not the music nor the characters just the twisted plot. **

* * *

"_**I look at the world and I notice its turning/ While my guitar gently weeps. / with every mistake we must surely be learning, / Still my guitar gently weeps…"~ The Beatles, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps  
**_

The alarm screamed next to his ear. It was seven already? Jeez… he'd gotten… Dave held up his hand and counted out five hours on his fingers. And it was only the beginning or the semester; he didn't even want to think about midterms or even finals. _Just take it one day at a time, nerd_, Becky would say.

Instantly, he started going through his schedule, he could skip his Quantum Mechanics class today. It was only a review, all stuff he'd already learned. Maybe he could convince Becky to play hooky today too.

Suddenly, it sounded as if his alarm was going off again. He reached over, confused when he realized that the alarm wasn't from the clock. "What the-?" he stopped moving and tried to listen. It was coming from… under his bed?

He yanked his arm from under Tank's snoring mass and started to try to yank all the dirty clothes out of the way. "How did it get under here?" He asked Tank, who had a very strange habit of taking Dave's cell phone and hiding it. This time, Tank simply gave a loud snort and rolled over.

His fingers finally closed over the phone and he promptly fell off the side of his bed. He extricated himself from the swamp of dirty clothes and books to read the two text messages. The first was from NYU's Emergency text message service, saying that classes had been cancelled for the next two days. And the other from Becky about fifteen minutes ago: I'm coming over. Turn on the news.

Dave jumped up, threw on a pair of jeans he hoped weren't too dirty and stumbled out into the main room as Bennett opened the door, letting Becky in.

"Hey," he greeted her but she seemed slightly out of it as she grabbed his hand. Becky was paler than usual; looking like she'd gotten dressed in a hurry, her hair pulled back into a braid over her shoulder. "I just got your text. What's going on?"

"Bennett, turn the TV," Becky said quietly as she pulled Dave down next to her on the couch. She pointed wordlessly to the TV as one of the news anchors returned from the commercial break.

"Breaking news this morning; the head of the English department at NYU, was found dead in his office…"

Becky gripped his arm.

"There was no sign of forced entry but the severity of the crime makes police wonder if the murder was pre-meditated. The police coroner reported that his neck was snapped in three different places owing to the man's advanced age of nearly eighty. Nothing was missing from his office, except for a few books. As a result, NYU has cancelled all classes for the next two days while police look for suspects. Anyone with information is encouraged to come forward."

"Whoa man," Bennett shook her head sadly as he returned to his room. Most likely to sleep. "That's a bummer."

Becky let out a deep sigh and leaned back against Dave, curling her legs up against her chest. "I know him…knew him," she corrected herself. "He's…or was my English advisor. I saw him two days ago."

Dave wrapped his arms around her and she didn't fight him one bit. "Ah, Beck," was all he could think to say. Well, there was something else, but Dave decided that this probably wasn't the best time to say those words.

"But something's been bugging me about this." She picked at her thumb nail.

"Besides the whole death thing?"

"Yeah, he wasn't that old. She said he was almost eighty, but Dr. Shapiro was only like…thirty five. Maybe forty."

"And who would want to kill him? What would be the point?"

Becky shrugged. "He was a nice guy. Everybody liked him. I don't understand why."

"And the books?" Dave wondered.

"He did have some pretty rare late Antiquity books," Becky replied. "They could be worth something, if you knew where to sell them."

Dave frowned. "So, I know this is going to sound crazy-"

Becky laid her hand on his chest; the tiniest hint of a smile pulled at her lips. "Dave. You are a sorcerer. _Everything_ is crazy when it comes to you."

"No. I mean besides that," Her smile gave him permission to smile as well. "Last night when I was walking home, I thought I heard someone behind me, following me. But not even Tank seemed to think anyone was there."

"What time was this?" Becky asked, sitting up a little now.

"Eighty forty? Almost nine? Why?"

"They think Dr. Shapiro was killed about ten o clock."

"I think we better go talk to Balthazar."

* * *

Their new shop was situated in the heart of Queens, which meant that Dave and Becky had to take three different subway transfers to get there. After the original shop had been closed almost nine years ago, they couldn't find another property in Manhattan. "I like the sound of this 'Queens', myself," Veronica had noted when they found this new store.

"So I'm confused about why we're going to Balthazar and Veronica," Becky took a sip of her coffee that she and Dave had picked up on the way. "Not that I'm not happy to see them."

"Last night, Veronica looked nervous about something," Dave replied as they crossed the street.

"She didn't do it!" Becky retorted.

"No, I know she didn't. But she might have a better guess than you or I might." Dave replied as he opened the door and set off the tiny bell above it.

The second Arcana Cabana looked the same as Dave remembered that the first one, packed to the brim with strange objects, paintings, jars filled with creatures that he didn't have names for. The labyrinthine lay out made them all seem more other-worldly, even though many of the things on the shelves were simple house-hold items; books, goblets, ancient jewelry.

"I just don't understand why…" Balthazar called back to Veronica as he came down the stairs.

"Because we're keeping up with the times. And I'd like this to be official!" Veronica shot back following him down the stairs. "We'll make it a party, invite Estella and George Valens. You remember them? And Ila and Hari. I haven't seen them in…what? Thirteen hundred years?"

"Yes, dear. Of course I remember them. And I agree that seeing them would be…?" Balthazar trailed off when he saw Dave and Becky standing there, the slightly panicked and morose looks on their faces. "If I may be so bold to inquire: what is going on?"

"One of my professors was murdered last night," Becky answered.

"Well, I'm very sorry to hear that, but-"

"The news said that his neck was broken a bunch of places because of his age," Dave supplied. "But Becky says that he's only thirty five."

"What was he a professor of?" Veronica wondered as she stepped down the last few stairs.

"European mythology."

Veronica and Balthazar exchanged a look.

"What?" Dave wondered, holding Becky's hand a little tighter.

"What kind of European mythology?" Balthazar inquired.

"Uh… Some German, Scandinavian. Welsh, British, Irish mainly." Becky replied. "We spent a lot of the semester on Arthurian legends and…Morgana…"

Balthazar looked from Veronica to Dave. "Why does this suddenly stink of Horvath?"

"There are other Morganians out there," Veronica insisted. "Horvath isn't the only one."

"Why wouldn't it be him?" Dave asked. "He's not exactly the most stable person."

"Veronica's right." Balthazar leaned against a cupboard. "He maybe a traitor and a liar and a murderer but it wasn't him….it's not his style."

"I felt a very powerful summoning spell a few weeks ago. And then last night…something very strange." Veronica chimed in.

"I think it followed me," Dave replied. "Last night after we left the lab. I could have sworn someone…or thing followed me."

Veronica bit her lower lip in concern. "It was powerful…powerful enough to elude us, Balthazar. Maybe someone made a mistake?"

"And summoned what exactly?" Dave wondered.

"Probably nothing good," Balthazar replied.

"For now," Veronica laid her hand Becky's shoulder. "Lay low. Try not to attract any attention to yourselves. The last thing we want is the both of you caught out in the open."

* * *

"So, bad day salvaged," Becky admitted that night as they sat on Becky's apartment roof eating Chinese takeout. Becky had brought up a blanket and her iPod and its player, and they were looking up at whatever stars they could find.

"Figured if the museum wouldn't, this would." Dave grinned. After talking to Balthazar and Veronica, they decided that they needed to take their minds off this whole thing. So they trekked back to Manhattan and went to the American Museum of Natural History, Becky's favorite. Dave never admitted that he loved the museum too, but it reminded him of being a kid and like most kids growning up in New York City, the AMNA was a destination for most weekends and he assumed it was the same for Becky.

"They both did," she picked through her lo mien noodles. She deftly lifted a few, like a true expert.

"And you're sitting on your roof," he pointed out. "It really did work."

"I'm trying to conquer my fears. Besides I kinda like the view." She tilted her head back to see all the stars….well, the ones bright enough to be seen through all the light pollution. They did live in the city that never slept after all.

Dave looked up too. "A sure sign of the apocalypse."

"If I remember correctly, you're the one who told me to climb up on that stupid building to stop the apocalypse. It's all your fault."

"So if we go to Seattle, you'll be up for the Space Needle?"

"Only if you're with me." She frowned at him. "Are you still freaked out about whatever that was that followed you?"

Dave shrugged. "They told us to lay low, told _me_ to lay low."

"They don't want anything to happen to you."

Dave set down the box and looked over at her. "I should be able to take care of myself." He held his hands out in front of him in frustration. "I'm Prime Merlinian after all. That should count for something."

"Hey," she began in her most comforting voice and patted his shoulder.

"What?"

She scooted closer to him and set her box of Chinese down next to his. "Please listen to Balthazar. Don't make me worry, okay? Not like before."

Dave frowned. "You were worried?" It wasn't that the thought hadn't crossed his mind; that night had frayed probably every nerve he had. But the thought hadn't ever returned to him. He was out of his mind with worry for her; after all he'd sent her up to that huge tower when she was deathly afraid of heights. But she had seemed so sure, so in control…

Becky rolled her eyes at him, something she did often. "Of course I was worried." She smiled that smile as she closed both of her hands on either side of his face. "I had just found you again; I wasn't ready to let you go yet."

Dave wound his arms around her waist, smiling too, all the worries of the past twenty-four hours suddenly seemed really far away and sort of un-important. Except for one. "I was thinking the same thing." Now could be the time to say what had been bugging him for the past few days.

"Okay, then," her voice dropped another octave and she leaned in closer. "Let's not tempt fate."

And of course, there was a knock on the roof door. "Becky, sweetie? Are you up there?"

Becky huffed out a frustrated sigh and leaned her forehead against Dave's shoulder.

"Five minutes…" Dave groaned. "Five freaking minutes alone with you is just too much to ask, isn't it?"

She grinned but yelled back to one of her four room-mates. "Yeah, I'm up here."

"Oh…why?"

Becky rolled her eyes. "Dave's up here too. And we've had a very long day."

"Oh…oooh….okay, bye!" There was a shuffle of feet.

Dave laughed until Becky kissed him, fastening her arms around his neck.

Some other time, he thought.

* * *

**heheheh don't worry there's more to come :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_**So here's the next chapter guys. I hope you guys like it!**_

**_Dislcaimer: I own nothing at all, except for the people you don't recongize, everything else is Disney and Tolkien._**

* * *

" '_**There are many powers in the world, for good or evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming,'"~ Gandalf from "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R Tolkien.**_

"Dave? Um…excuse me, Dave?" A tiny hand tapped his shoulder. He turned to find one of the many students from the lab he TAed following after him. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah?" He checked his cell phone. He could give maybe five minutes. "What's up…?" he went through the class roster in his head but her name escaped him. He should have known her it; she'd sat in the front row since classes started.

"Annabelle." She replied in an even tone. She pushed her glasses a little farther up her nose and pushed a long strand of curly dark hair behind her ears. "Annabelle Montgomery." She was short, tinier than Becky and thin to match. Even the skinny jeans she wore seemed too big for her.

"Right, right. Sorry about that. So what can I do for you?" He asked as they made their way out of the building.

"A few of us were wondering if you did any tutoring?" she fastened her hands to messenger bag strap. "You know, outside of class?"

"Well, I'm going to be doing the first, third and fifth review sessions starting next month. If that helps any."

"Yeah, I know, I read the syllabus." She grinned. Dave didn't think anyone read the syllabus until finals time to find out the absolute lowest grade on the final and still pass. Not that he had … more than twice. "But a few of us are already confused by Dr. Teara's lecture the other day and we were hoping that maybe you'd help us out." She looked so hopeful that he couldn't tell her 'no' flat out.

But the question was when? He was already stretched thin between his own classes, TAing, lessons with Balthazar and time with Becky. Praying that she would figure it out on her own, he just said: "Get whoever else is confused together and e-mail me; I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"That sounds awesome!" Annabelle clapped her hands together in excitement. "Thank you!"

He checked his phone again. He had exactly two minutes. "Anything else?"

"No, just the tutoring. Where are you going?" She craned her neck around, looking as if the answer would appear in the air before them.

"Washington Square Park. I've got to meet my girlfriend."

"Oh…well," Annabelle lost her effervescent tone. "See you later then." She disappeared into the mass of other students.

But Dave thought nothing more of it or her as he approached the bench where they always met. He kissed her cheek as a greeting, sliding next to her. Her hands weren't shaking too badly, he noted, and she wasn't nearly as pale as she had been a few days ago.

"How was the interview?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Sort of normal, I guess." She'd been on the list of students who had seen Dr. Shapiro a week before his death and the police had absolutely no other leads to go on. So Becky had to skip her first three classes and go down to the station to be interviewed. "They asked me how I knew him and where I was on the night he was murdered."

"So just the usual stuff then?"

Becky nodded. "But I did get this." She pulled a folded sticky note out of her jeans pocket.

"Please don't tell me that it's something that's going to get you arrested," Dave pleaded.

Becky grinned. "It's the list of books stolen from Dr. Shapiro's office." She replied in a low voice. "I looked them up; they all have to do with Morgana."

He whistled appreciatively. "You know, you should be a spy…"

Becky flipped her hair ostentatiously and fluttered her eye lashes. "Call me Bond…Becky Bond."

"Shaken, not stirred?" He wondered, looking over the list.

"Actually I like stirred better." Becky admitted.

Dave wasn't familiar with any of the books, him being a Physics nerd and all. He pointed to the first one. "The Morgan le Fay: Complex Feminist theory in Arthurian Legends."

"That was one for our class." Becky recited. "It was looking at Morgana's character through the different legends, seeing the different ways that women and women's spirituality were represented and valued in England."

"And this one?" He pointed to the next one on the list: "The Fata Morgana"

"It's a collection of paintings of Morgana and just sort of a general autobiography of her life and different legends included the 'Fata Morgana.'"

He just looked at her, puzzled.

"It's this weird phenomena where mirages look like their floating above the horizon line. There's a place in the Sicillian Bay that does it and lots of historians think that's where all the Flying Dutchman sightings come from."

Dave sighed. "I think we should take this to Balthazar."

* * *

Annabelle watched from across the street. She ducked in between a few girls who had to be on the basketball team and a couple who were in the midst of a total emotional breakdown. No one would notice her. There'd be no reason to. She was a skinny little thing and she knew it; most people's eyes just passed over her without the double take of recognition. She did it to herself, she knew. She had to. But soon, everything would change and she wouldn't have to hide anymore.

The blonde had to be the girlfriend, Annabelle reasoned…from the way they whispered together and the little smiles that jumped from one to the other. She was very pretty in the average sort of way, Annabelle supposed; blonde, blue-eyed, and delicate. Probably stupid too. It was always the same. No matter where you went. As long as a girl was pretty there was no reason for her to be smart.

Annabelle rolled her eyes at the girl flipped her hair and Dave laughed. But Annabelle was smart and she had other things to worry about at the moment. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and turned to go to her next class.

* * *

"Let's just get this over with." Balthazar hissed to Veronica as they moved through the New York City necropolis also known as the morgue, in Manhattan.

Veronica chuckled, the shadow of the laugh echoing in the near empty hallway. "Well, well, well…"

"What?" Balthazar growled.

"You'd think after all this time…" Veronica was incredulous in her observation. "we'd know each other backwards and forwards."

"What are you going on about, dear?" Balthazar stressed the 'dear' part.

"The great sorcerer Balthazar Blake is afraid of dead bodies!" Veronica chortled.

"No! I am not afraid!" Balthazar tried to clarify. "They're just…un-nerving."

Veronica laughed again as they pushed through a set of double doors. Dressed now as doctors, no one would bother them. Not that there was anyone there to bother them. The morgue was empty and silent as a tomb; funnily enough. Veronica casually glanced at the list of bodies currently awaiting autopsies and told Balthazar which drawer to look in.

Balthazar flinched as they opened it and pulled out the body of John Shapiro. Veronica pulled back the sheet as Balthazar placed his hands on either side of the man's gaunt cheeks without actually touching him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Dave and Becky were right. Something's strange." He remarked.

"What is it?"

Balthazar frowned and pointed to the small white mark on the man's temple. "Look here. What does this look like this to you?"

Veronica narrowed her eyes. "The remains of a parasite spell. But this man…he's not even a sensitive. The spell sucked the life and the knowledge out of him. "

"It's what made him age so rapidly….what made his neck so weak and so easy to break." Balthazar replied.

"I haven't ever seen anything like this before," Veronica was worried. "Have you?"

"I've known sensitives who have tangled themselves up in sorcerer business but this man was a civilian, through and through."

"If nothing else, it proves that Horvath did not do this," Veronica crossed her arms over her chest. "The mark is too small."

"And so the question remains: who did this?" Balthazar looked over at her.

Veronica closed her eyes as well, holding her hands over the man's face. It glowed briefly and then faded but it was enough to bring out the perfect shadow of a child's handprint.

"That doesn't make any sense," Balthazar frowned.

"None of this makes any sense, Balthazar." Veronica replaced the sheet. "At least we know it's human, a sorcerer. Something we know how to fight."

"Only if we figure out who it is."

* * *

_**hehehehe Big bad balthazar's afraid of the morgue... LOL! Anyway, now stuff's gonna get really interesting**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_I'm glad I'm getting such a positive response! And I hope you guys like this. Oh and I forgot to mention in the last chapter that that bit about the 'Fata Morgana' is true. I like to add a little fact to my fiction! (nerdy laugh) Hehehehehe...yeah lame writer's joke._**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, the music, the characters or the quotes, I guess I'm just not that brilliant._**

* * *

"_**Oh elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze/A trail for the devil to erase…" Belle and Sebastian "Piazza New York Catcher"  
**_

Veronica looked over the list frowning. "And you're sure about these?" She asked Becky that night in the lab.

"Positive. I looked them up myself." Becky was perched on one of the many desks, her legs hanging over the edge. "Do they mean anything to you?"

Veronica shook her head. "Only that the sorcerer who did this was a Morganian. But not Horvath."

"You sure?" Dave wondered. Obviously, he still wasn't sold on the idea that it wasn't Horvath. "He's the one who let Morgana out before."

"And he knows he can't bring Morgana back from the dead." Balthazar replied from his spot next to Becky on the table. "Thanks to Dave, it's impossible."

"Do other Morganians know that she's really gone?" Becky wondered.

"Some sorcerers do know about Dave, only the ones we trust. Though we tried to keep it contained." Veronica replied with a gentle smile to Dave. "We didn't want it to interfere with your life, what with everything else going on."

Dave nodded his thanks. "But who else besides Horvath would want Morgana back, or try to get her back?"

"Who wouldn't? There are lots of Morganians out there." Balthazar replied. "Some older than Horvath, Veronica and I. Lots of them are angry and bitter and have been forever. And when you're angry and bitter for centuries it can turn you into something…" He trailed off looking for the words.

"Powerful?" Veronica supplied.

"Scary?" Becky wondered.

"Crazy?" Dave tried.

"…unpleasant…" Balthazar finally concluded. "They cease to be human in a way. Thus, makes the process of tracking them kinda hard."

"Well, aren't we going to try to stop them?" Becky asked.

"Of course we are." Veronica smiled reassuringly.

"We just need to figure out what they want first."

"We just need to be patient. And careful." Veronica looked to Balthazar. "We know they killed Dr. Shapiro for his knowledge-"

"So, either they're stupid," Dave listed off. "Or they're trying to figure out where she is."

"I'm liking option two. Anyone who can evade us almost completely is far from stupid," Balthazar replied.

Becky hopped off the table. "Well as _fun _as all this is, I have to go. Dr. Shaprio's memorial is tomorrow morning."

Instantly, Dave was up. "I'll walk you home-"

"No, I will." Veronica volunteered, standing. "You have training."

"Can't I at least say goodbye?"

Veronica only smiled and started for the stairs, giving them some space.

"So, when is the memorial?" he asked Becky.

"Like eight or nine? Can you come?"She wondered.

He shook his head. "I can't, I've got the first exam for Quantam Mechanics tomorrow."

She nodded in understanding as Veroinca subtly stepped outside. They glanced behind them and saw Balthazar walking the training circle: muttering and gesturing to no one they could see. "I'll see you sometime tomorrow then?" She asked.

He kissed her forehead. "I'll make time, okay?"

" 'kay," She smiled up at him as she walked through the door and into the dark.

* * *

As the last notes of Death Cab for Cutie's "Crooked Teeth" faded away, Becky signed off. "Well, New York, unfortunately I've got to be going. This is Becky Barnes of NYUKW saying goodnight, be safe and I hope that there's music all around you."

She yanked off her headphones and filed away the last few records and CDs as the next crew came in, Andre along with them. "Hey Gorgeous," he greeted her as usual. All three of Becky's room-mates had professed that Andre was in fact "the perfect man": tall, dark, handsome, sensitive, and a voice to make you forget your own name. Becky just rolled her eyes at them; sure he was attractive but that was about it.

"Hey," she slid the last CD into place. "What's up?"

"You all finished?" He handed her a clipboard with her payroll to sign.

"Yeah, why?" Becky bit her lip, calculating her paycheck for the week.

"Your boyfriend's waiting for you in the lobby." Andre rolled his eyes as always when he referred to Dave.

"Gee, tell me how you really feel," Becky laughed it off now, flipping past her paycheck to find the list of bands that needed to be scouted for the fall showcase in a few weeks. She checked off the one she'd actually heard of that would be in SoHo in a week or so.

Andre stole back the clipboard when she'd finished. He just shook his head at her as if in major disappointment.

"Bye Andre!" She yelled back as she ducked into the main office to grab her coat, wave goodbye to two of the secretaries and then headed to the lobby. As Andre had said, Dave was waiting there for her.

"Did I know you were meeting me?" She asked, her arms still around his neck after their hellos.

"Nah," he pulled her a little closer for a minute. "I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd walk you home."

She looped her arm through his. "That sounds good."

"I wasn't sure if Andre was going to tell that I was here," he confided to her as they set out. The light sleet fluttered a little in the street lamp light, almost snow but not quite, shining briefly until it fell to the sidewalk.

"Oh?" Becky flinched at the sudden and rather harsh chill of the now October night. She pulled the hood of her coat up over her head.

"Yeah, I don't think he likes me very much." Dave admitted.

"Well, he refers to you as: That-nerdy-kid-with-the-umbrella-who-fixed-the-antenna-that-one-time." Becky squeezed his arm a little tighter against what anyone else had to say. She let it roll off her shoulder and fall away into the gutter. "Draw your own conclusions."

"It should be my Native American name." Dave observed dryly.

Becky let out a sigh and smiled up at him. "He's just jealous that he doesn't get a great guy like you."

"Oh yeah, I can see he's really torn up about it."He kissed her temple.

Becky laughed. "What would mine be?"

He thought for a moment. "Probably something like…." Then he shrugged as he reached down to intertwine their hands. "I don't know….I can't think of you as anything else but Becky."

She grinned in agreement. "Good, because I like you as 'Dave'."

Then suddenly a shadow was cast across their path.

"Evening David, Rebecca," a deep voice issued from the darkness as the shape tipped his hat courteously. "I can see why you were willing to risk it all; she's just as pretty as I remember." The huge shape stepped into the pool of light offered by the streetlamp and the darkness melted away to reveal Horvath. He smiled charmingly as usual, as thought nothing had occurred between them.

"What do you want?" Dave stepped just in front of Becky. His other hand curled into a fist.

Horvath examined his leather gloves as if in boredom. "The same thing as before: Merlin's ring."

Dave shook his head. "You can't have it."

"You hardly need it anymore. Come, David, don't be difficult." All three noted the few other passersby, though the other New Yorkers made little noticed of the three of them. "Difficult?" Becky growled from behind Dave. "Because of you, one of my professors is dead! An innocent man was murdered! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Horvath frowned. "My condolences. The professor's death was unfortunate, I admit. But it's done now."

"What did you do?" Dave demanded. "Who did you bring here?"

Horvath shrugged. "I was simply fulfilling the dying wish of a dear friend. You'll soon find out whom unless you want to make it easy on yourself and hand over the ring now."

"You know it really isn't your style," a familiar voice announced behind Horvath. Balthazar stepped out of the shadows of the nearby alley. Veronica walked casually from across the street from Washington Square Park. None of them missed how Horvath visibly twitched when Veronica stood at Balthazar's side. "Who did you summon, Horvath?"

"I told you." Horvath's eyes were hard as he gazed at all four of them, especially at Veronica and she returned it head on. "I was simply fulfilling a friend's last request."

A look of shock paled Balthazar's face. "You can't control them, can you?"

Horvath ignored Balthazar completely and looked only to Dave. "I'm asking for the ring politely. You can bet the next time it won't be so. Now, hand over the ring."

Dave shook his head.

"Fine," Horvath glared at them both, but the hard line of his mouth collapsed into a harsh grimace little as his eyes fell on Veronica. "Then your deaths are at your own hands." He turned and disappeared into the shadows of the alleyway.

"Well, now we know that they want," Dave said in the sudden silence.

* * *

**_"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."~ _****_Winston Churchill_**

The sleet had turned to an icy rain by the time Horvath descended the docks as he had weeks ago. But this time, he slipped into the nearest abandoned warehouse and the light remained firmly on. While it was only two streets off from the Gowanus Expressway, the sound of the water lapping against the docks muted the sound a little.

"Do you have it?" She asked in a harsh whisper from the far dark corner of the warehouse. She was weak, but doing her best to hide it. The professor's life had served her well with the knowledge she'd gleaned, the life she'd taken and the books that she poured over constantly. But she needed more.

"No," Horvath took off his jacket and hung it on the most serviceable scrap of wood. She hadn't wanted to hide in a place so beneath her, but the abandoned wood warehouse was the only place Horvath could find. "He wouldn't give it up."

She growled and it echoed loudly in the cavernous warehouse. "Why didn't you simply take it? He's still untrained and -"

"Both Balthazar and Veronica showed up!" Horvath retorted. "They are too strong together, all three of them. I need to even the score."

She was silent for a moment. Then came the harsh sing-song taunt that chilled his blood. "You still care for her, don't you?"

"That's neither here nor there." Horvath replied evenly.

"After all these centuries. After she chose another. After you helped to release her from that prison. You still love her." She laughed, hard and cruel.

Horvath only looked at his hands; he found that he could not meet her eyes. "We all have our weaknesses, don't we?"

"And learning to exploit those weaknesses will ensure that we both get what we want: Balthazar's head on a plate and my birthright." She was quiet for a moment. "You said that they were too strong together, didn't you? Even with such a greenhorn?"

Horvath nodded. "He may be untrained, but Balthazar is fixing that with every passing day. The boy's smart and resourceful. You shouldn't underestimate him."

She ignored this. "And the little sensitive that's attached herself to Merlin's Heir?" She wondered.

"What about her?"

"Could she be used?"

"I've already used her once, they'll be suspecting it."

There was a thoughtful pause. "Then perhaps the obvious route is not the best one, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

Horvath could hear her smile in the dark.

* * *

**_I told you stuff was gonna get interesting :) _**


	6. Chapter 6

_**I come bearing the next chapter and it's a bit longer than the last few. I hope you guys enjoy! Oh and the physics stuff...yeah I'm a libral arts hippie, i don't do science unless I want to blow stuff up, so you'll have to excuse my bad science. **_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, I own nothing at all. **_

_**

* * *

**__**"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness."~**__**Maya Angelou**_

_**Manhattan: 9:43 pm**_

Unfortunately, Annabelle did get a group of students together and they all did need extra tutoring. Out of the six total kids sitting around the table, only three were Physics majors, one was an English major and then there was Annabelle the Bio-Chemistry major. Half the kids really did need to get this down, they'd be doing this for the rest of their lives. Though, no one understood why the English major was there. But all in all, they seemed smart enough but totally lost. As if he didn't have enough to deal with already.

So instead of going with Becky to check out a band in SoHo for her work, he was stuck in the Mulberry Street Library with a bunch of freshman. In fact, he'd just gotten a text message from her: "Music is sweet. Wish you were here." Yay… way to rub it in. Though the upside was that Becky had taken her room-mate Alice; who was a bit of a lush and would probably spend a good portion of the night puking in an alley.

And it wasn't so much the missing out on the concert bit, he realized. Though it would have been a nice break. Both school and Balthazar had been competing for most of his time lately. Ever since the showdown with Horvath in the street a week ago, Balthazar and Veronica had stressed his needing to conquering layering spells. And even though, physics came rather easily to him than most of his class mates, he still needed to study. And through all this, there had been virtually no time for Becky. A quick meeting at the bench in Washington Square Park, a text here, a phone call there had been all this whole week. It was driving him nuts.

"Can anyone tell me the first law of Thermodynamics ?" One of Annabelle's classmates asked. "I just need to hear it again."

"'Energy can be changed from one form to another but it cannot be created or destroyed.'" The sophomore English major repeated. "'And the total amount of energy and matter in the universe remains constant.' So no matter what you do the stuff, it never actually goes away. Kinda like eating McDonalds."

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

The kid rolled his eyes. "Like no matter how healthy you try to eat there, or how much you exercise, you still ate McDonalds. And that shit is still there."

Dave couldn't help but smile at this. "And Avogadro's number?"He wondered, praying that maybe they were finally starting to get it and he could still make it to SoHo, which wasn't too far from where was. It was just a matter of hitting the trains at the right time.

Annabelle repeated it back to him as if she'd been saying her it whole life. She was surprising, he realized; a bit on the intense side, but creative even in this subject. As a Biology/ Chemistry major, she only needed this class to help fulfill her basic science credits but she was getting to know this stuff pretty well.

"So, what problems from the problem set would you use both of these to solve?" He pushed the paper to the center of the table. A few of them voted for three, a few for number five. Even Annabelle the emerging Physics whiz was unsure. "Yeah, none of you are right. Okay so again…."

Three long hours later, they were feeling substantially better about the upcoming exam. The kid who had no idea which laws of Thermodynamics were which could now recite them all on command. If you asked him one, even in the middle of his sentence he would repeat the law as Dave had imprinted in his brain and then go back to what he was saying before.

He realized as they came to the last problem in the set, there was a voicemail waiting for him. Funny, he hadn't heard it ring in the last four hours.

"Hey, it's me." Becky's voice filled his ear. "So I think we're going to be here for a while. I was able to get an interview with the band. Or at least the drummer. I think. Hope you're having fun tutoring the freshmen!" She trilled.

Dave hung up the voice mail, looking at the phone in his hand.

"So we were going to get some food," Annabelle told him while everyone packed up. "I know there's a twenty four hour pancake place around here," she grinned. "I can practically smell it. You wanna come?"

"Yeah, I don't know, it's late-"

"My treat." Annabelle promised. "After all you did this without any kind of incentive."

Dave shook his head, still holding his cell phone.

"Come on, she's off doing her job. Come on and have fun with us." She tilted her head to one side. "You look like you could use some fun. Or at least a meal where you don't have to impress anyone."

The phone had been silent in his hand except for that first text some four hours ago. Not that he expected her to text him every five minutes. But Annabelle was right: Becky was technically working and he needed food.

"Yeah," he agreed standing. "Okay."

* * *

_**SoHo: 12:17 am **_

Becky checked her cell phone for the time, noting the fact that he hadn't text or called or anything and it had been a good two hours since she called.

"Oh God…" Alice groaned as they stood at the bar. Alice, already twenty-two, was downing her second beer, all the while eyeing the cute bassist in the corner. "Please don't tell me you're freaking out over him."

"Nah," Becky replied, "he's probably too busy going on about the Boltzmann's Constant or something."

Alice looked quizzically at Becky. Alice was after all an Art major.

"It's a Physics thing. He's tutoring some kids from the lab he's TAing this semester."

Alice rolled her eyes. "He's such a nerd."

"Yeah, but he's a cute nerd." Becky replied.

Alice downed the last bit of the beer and set the bottle down on the bar. "Beck, the boy behind you is cute. The drummer who agreed to be interviewed is cute. Dave….is kind of like…well, I don't know what he is because he's such a nerd."

Becky rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I have to go get an interview with the drummer." She pulled out the little notepad and pen from her purse and whacked Alice's shoulder playfully with them. "I'll be back in a little while. Please don't go home with anyone you don't know between now and then."

Becky trotted over to the far corner table where the drummer was perched with one of his guitarists. Though as soon as she moved into his line of sight, the drummer shooed the guitarist away. And the guitarist didn't look too happy about it. "So you must be Becky," he stated as she sat down opposite of him. He held out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Jared."

And Alice was right; this Jared was very cute, long dark hair, tattoos across both wrists, tall, very sexy half smile.

"Hi, and yes." She grinned and sat down opposite of him.

"How'd you like the show?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was interesting."

"Aw, come on. I'm a big boy, I can take it." He laughed.

"It was really good." Becky admitted. "I'm a big fan of the lyrics of the first and," she checked her notes. "the third song. And the melody on that last one…" she shook her head in disbelief. "Wow!"

Jared sat back a little. "That good?"

Becky smiled. "I really liked it. So, tell me about the band. How it got started."

Jared gave the basics of when: 2006, where: Hoboken New Jersey, how: Jared and his brother, the bassist, met the guitar players: Alex and Mack through an ad

"What would you say your influences are?" Becky wondered a good hour later.

"Probably Flogging Molly…a lot of Flogging Molly. And Sonic Youth and Belle and Sebastian, Mott the Hopple. The Smiths are good too." She nodded, writing them all down. "What about you?" He asked suddenly. "Here I am going on about myself and I know nothing about you."

She shook her head, sitting back up. "There's not much to know I guess. I'm a junior at NYU, majoring in Music and English and I work part time at the radio station which you already know."

And then she saw it; the subtle tilt to his head, the slow, almost shy, glance up at her. Becky cursed internally. "And if I take you out for dinner or coffee or something," he wondered "it's not going to disqualify us from the fall showcase?"

"No, it wouldn't," she replied carefully not looking at him. "But I don't think my boyfriend would like it very much."

"Damn," Jared cursed. "The awesome ones always do."

"Thanks, I guess."

"…He doesn't have to know about it." He suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, no." Becky threw the notepad into her purse. "I have to go. Thanks for the interview." She stood up and looped her purse over her arm. "We'll call in a week or so, either way."

"No, wait-" Jared leapt up trying to catch her.

Becky dodged her way through the crowds until she reached the bar. She grabbed Alice away from the other guitarist, Alex or Mack, Becky had no clue which and nor did she care. "Come on, let's get going."

"But I haven't gotten his number yet." Alice complained as Becky dragged her through the front door.

"He looks like an ass, come on." Becky started looking for the subway sign. As she twisted one way and the other, she noticed Veronica making her way towards them. But she stopped about four feet from them and pretended to be interested in the nearest streetlamp. Not that Alice noticed at all anyway. Though, it did make Becky calm down a little.

"What the hell, Becky?"Alice shook her off finally. "What is wrong with you?"

Becky shook her head, pulling out her phone. "I'm going home. Are you coming?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine. Whatever."

* * *

It was almost two in the morning when Dave finally got home. But Tank didn't come to greet him at the door like he normally did. He poked his head around the corner into the empty living room, under the couch and in the pantry. How the dog got into the pantry, Dave had no idea, but that was where he was half the time.

He probably was under the bed, Dave realized as he threw his backpack on the couch and headed for his room where he found Tank and a Becky sized surprise fast asleep in his bed. He almost didn't want to wake her up, she looked how he felt; utterly exhausted.

He sat gingerly at the end of the bed but the movement was enough to wake Becky. She looked down at Tank, and then over. A slow smile spread across her face. "Hey…Why didn't you text me back?"

"What are you talking about?" he pulled himself up closer. "I haven't heard from you since you sent that voice mail."

She crawled up next to him. "Let me see your phone. I sent you one like an hour ago, telling you that I was coming by."

He handed it to her, frowning when he realized that it was frozen. He flicked open the back and pried out the battery, again frowning.

"What?" She wondered.

"The battery's too hot." He concentrated on wiling the molecules that made up the battery to slow and cool. When he put it back and turned the phone on again, the message was already in the inbox, as if it had already been opened and read. He glanced at her. "That's really weird."

"Never mind," She put her hand over his. "It's not important."

"What's up then?" he wondered. "Not that it's not awesome to see you."

"That's why I came." She smiled a little sadly.

"You sure?"

She bit her thumbnail before she answered. "That stupid drummer hit on me." She shook her head.

Dave sat back a little. "What- should I-?"

"No." she shook her head. "I told him 'no' and then…"She let out a huge sigh. "He said that you didn't have to know about it."

"Seriously," Dave started to get up. "What was the name of that club because I'm going-"

She smiled and gripped his hand. "It's very sweet but it's okay. I just wanted to see you." She said again. "I haven't seen you in a week and…." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing earlier." He replied, running a hand through her hair. "Let's just go to sleep. It'll look better in the morning….well, later in the morning."

Becky smiled, kissed him once in agreement and resumed her previous spot: one arm thrown over Tank, one arm under her head. She breathed deep and relaxed into the bed.

Dave laid there, his arm around her waist, wondering that maybe now? Especially after all this mess and she came here. Maybe he could say it now.

"Beck?" he ventured carefully.

"Mmm?" was the sleepy reply. Tank snorted on Becky's other side.

"Beck? Becky?"

But Dave realized by the slow even pace of her breath and heartbeats, she was fast asleep.

* * *

_**The Bronx: 5:34 am.**_

In human views, George Valens was nearly eighty. In reality though, he was far older than he would like to count. After living abroad in too many countries to keep track of, he'd settled down in New York City, of all places. But he was not alone. He was surprised to find such a thriving magical community here.

As he shuffled through his tiny Bronx apartment, he re set a book there, an ancient tea pot here. The sun was going to come up soon and George learned to love the early morning quiet, the calm that even engulfed this city. He would take his tea and sit out on his fire escape and watch the sun come up.

As he placed the full tea kettle on the stove, the lights flickered several times in a row.

George turned and as the lights came steadily back on, he saw a face that he thought he would never see again. He pulled off his glasses and rubbed them.

"You're not dreaming," she insisted, stepping more fully into the light. Dressed in a dark maroon sari with a belt made from the skulls of small animals: pigeons, cats, squirrels, she pushed a long skein of midnight hair off her shoulder. "Hello again, George."

George stumbled back into his wall. "It can't be…we put you away…"

She smiled sweetly; her pearly teeth were bright against her coco skin. She leaned down until her face was only inches from his. "Guess you didn't do a good enough job. Looks like you're slipping a little."

George made a fist, the amulet around his neck glowing with a fierce silver light. "If I've done it once, I can do it again."

She smiled. "Don't you know who I am? Or did you forget after you locked me away for a thousand years?" She held up her hand, blocking the light. The smile faded from her lips. "It's a two man job and Balthazar isn't here to save you."

George laughed as the light faded. "No, he may not be. But Merlin's Heir has come forward and he will stop you."

"Well," She knelt down next to him and grasped his chin between her thumb and index finger, the way one might hold a dragonfly. "I'll meet him soon enough," She muttered under her breath and George was unable to move.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Wow, I am really sorry about the late upload. I had bad writers block with this one. The next few chapters shouldn't take this long. It's kind of getting toward the end, sorry to dissapoint you :( But enjoy while you can !**_

Disclaimer: it all belongs to Disney

* * *

"_**Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."**__**William Congreve**_

Something was tapping his window or his door or maybe even the side of his head. _It's too early_…he groused to himself. Chancing a few more hours of sleep, he lifted his hand off Becky's waist to sneak a peek at his watch; 6:27 am. _No…no…no._ They'd gone to bed only four hours ago. What could the world possibly want at this ungodly hour?

_Screw it_, he snarled in his head. Whatever the hell it was could wait a few more hours. He settled back down and closed his eyes.

"Dude…?" Bennett's voice wafted through the door. "Dave?"

Oh….Dave was going to kill his room-mate, he decided in that moment. And he was going to make it slow and painful one that included a journey through a valley of razors ending in a quick dip into a vat of acid. "Dave….?"

Dave rolled his eyes and got up as gingerly as possible but it didn't matter much. Becky slept like the dead; he envied her….a lot. But he stopped, just before he laid a hand on the knob. He turned to back to see Becky clutching a still sleeping Tank, her face half buried in the pillow and half obscured by her loose blond curls. He was glad, in that moment, that she'd slept through Bennett's little wake up call. There were dark circles under her eyes, probably matching the ones under his. Despite her night and how upset she'd been when she arrived, she looked… serene

"Dude…?" Bennett called again, snapping Dave out of his little trance.

"What…" Dave stepped through and closed the door in one fluid motion. "could possibly be so important at six thirty in the morning?"

Veronica stepped from the living room into view. She was not smiling and she lacked her normally warm disposition. Her shoulders were set tight and she clutched her arms around herself as if she were too cold even though she was well dressed in a flannel skirt, leggings, boots and a faux-fur lined jacket. Veronica was not a fan of the cold.

"I have no idea how she got here," Bennett held up his hands in surrender. "She kept asking for you."

"A word?" Veronica murmured and indicated the hallway between apartments.

To anyone else but Dave and Becky, they would have thought Veronica was angry beyond all reason, but Dave knew that it was fear. "What's going on? It's way too early-"

"There's been another murder." Veronica reported in a harsh whisper when they were alone.

"Another professor?" Dave asked, leaning back against the wall in shock.

"No, he was a friend of Balthazar's." Maybe that was the reason for her fear. "A sorcerer. Drained in the same way as the professor."

"What are we going to do? Where did it happen?"

"The Bronx. Balthazar wanted to check things out before the police trampled through it."

Dave checked his watch. "Okay…I can make it there in about fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes I if I catch the right train-"

"No," Veronica was very firm on this. "No. We're going to meet Balthazar at the lab now."

"What about Becky?"

"Let her sleep. She's safe enough here. Either I or Balthazar will return when she wants to go home."

_Lucky_ Dave thought as he ducked back inside and grabbed his jacket, to follow Veronica down to the street.

* * *

They found Balthazar sitting on one of the tables going through the Incantus. Though the Incantus was not the only one. All around him were books of equal or more volume, all open to different pages, illustrations. Hand scribbled notes were scattered around Balthazar. All had a pattern; they were full of names and question marks.

"Balthazar," Veronica swept around him, on hand on his shoulder. She smiled as comfortingly as she could. "What did you find out?" She waved Dave over and he took a seat next to Balthazar.

"The first thing you have to understand, Dave," Balthazar began in a heavy tone. "is that there are more Morganians out there than you and I can count. And that most of them started out good or at least decent enough."

"But," Dave interrupted gently, already knowing this bit. "Somewhere down the line, they change and become something else."

Balthazar nodded. "They do sometimes. And that's where the Morganians get their power from. Their hate, their bitterness and their loneliness. It clouds how they see the world and how they interact in it."

Balthazar turned another page in the Incantus, revealing a portrait of a girl of about seventeen or so. She had hip-length black hair, half covering her thin pale face and partly veiling two hard cerulean eyes. Her slender hands were clenched into fists at her side.

He tapped the page. "She called herself Maeve, whether or not that was her real name, I don't know." He looked up at Veronica who shrugged in return. "But she…" Balthazar shook his head. "She was something else altogether.

"What do you mean?" Dave asked for both himself and Veronica, who looked just as quizzically at Balthazar.

"She was…" Balthazar shook his head, unable to find the right words. "She came out of nowhere; she was fierce and vicious, unlike anything or anyone I've ever seen. We had several 'meetings' until she up and vanished."

"Just like that?" Dave flipped through another few pages, looking for a sign of her. He turned another page and found a painting of Balthazar and another man that Dave had never met. He was short, slightly rounded in every way with a long nose and wide merry smile.

"George Valens was a good friend of mine," Balthazar pointed to the short man. "I met him just before I left England to go looking for the Prime Merlianan and we traveled across the rest of England together, then to France and we made our way to India.

"And she was there waiting for us."

Balthazar flipped another page, there was the girl Maeve and at the same time it wasn't. Her skin was darker and she wasn't as thin or as sorrowful looking. Now there was a terrible smile on her lips, one to match the belt of skulls on her waist.

"She was using the Glamour: the ability to change one's features, and subtly changing her appearance to keep it up for years at a time." Balthazar answered Dave's unasked question.

"She demanded the ring as Morgana's Heir-"

"Morgana got to her? Twisted that girl?" Veronica hissed.

"We didn't know if it was true or not. And there's no way to tell, what with Morgana gone. Even Horvath didn't know anything about her. I asked before I stuck him in the Grimhold," Balthazar told the both of them. "Anyway, she was there, demanding the ring and George and I managed to seal her up in tomb below the Ganges. Just barely. She almost killed George in the process." He flipped another page and there were Balthazar and George standing in the middle of a mass celebration. "She'd been telling the locals that she was the goddess Kali and that the end of the world was at hand. And she'd demanded blood sacrifices."

"So that's the last time you heard from her?" Dave turned another page.

"I'm afraid she got out….she's the one who killed George." Balthazar breathed and leaned back in his seat. "But someone had to set her loose."

"Horvath," Veronica and Dave chorused. "I thought you said he didn't know anything about her?" Dave replied.

"I think I gave him the idea." Balthazar reached up and covered Veronica's hand with his.

"But what I don't understand is: why she wants the ring?" Veronica sat on the table top. "She must know that it's just a focuser. She's got to have one of her own." Veronica flipped through the pages.

"Unless it's just the prestige of having the ring in her possession?" Balthazar suggested.

Veronica shook her head. "It's something else. If she has anything to do with Morgana, it has to be something else."

But Dave was too transfixed to hear their ongoing discussion, by her appearance as Maeve and her hard blue eyes, the tense fists at her side. There was a prideful sneer on her lips, as if she owned the world and the portrait taker dare suggest that she didn't. And yet…there was something about her that bothered Dave.

* * *

When Dave finally returned home, it was nearly ten in the morning. All Dave wanted was to collapse back into bed and sleep for the rest of the day. However, the moment he opened the door, the TV screamed at him. There, of course, were Becky and Bennett sitting in the living room transfixed to the news.

"…As both cases showed no signs of forced entry, authorities caution citizens to use common sense and be aware of their surroundings. They urge citizens to report anything or anyone out of the ordinary. As before, anyone with information is urged to come forward…" the anchor woman paused. "But one thing is certain, something sinister is stalking New York."

"Where were you?" Becky shouted the moment he came in. Tank leapt from her lap with a displeased little snort. "I was worried sick!"

Bennett simply looked from Becky to Dave and excused himself back to his room.

Dave collapsed next to Becky, his head thrown back over the back of the couch. "I woke up and you weren't there. And I freaked out until Bennett told me that you'd left like two hours ago with some woman-"

"Veronica," Dave replied sitting up more fully. "Veronica showed up. He was one of Balthazar's friends."

"The guy who died?" Becky scooped Tank back up into her lap. "Does Balthazar know killed him?"

"He's got leads, ideas but nothing for sure. It's a very long story and I'm really tired," He let his eyes drift close. "Can I tell you tomorrow?"

She nodded and handed off Tank. "Yeah. call me?" She whispered, kissing him on the forehead. "I gotta get home anyway. Alice has been texting me since the news broke." She leapt up, grabbed her coat and was about to leave when she stopped.

"What is it?" He wondered.

She grabbed something off the table and handed it to him. "You left your cell phone and it's been going off nonstop."

Becky leaned down to kiss him again. She scratched Tank's head and was out the door before Dave could say anything more.

He set the cell phone on silent and set it on the coffee table. Rather than deal with who ever had been trying to get a hold of him, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

_**hehehehe... perhaps i should include more mystery in my work. its kinda fun!**_


	8. Chapter 8

sorry about the late update, I've had really bad writers block the last week or so. Just let me know what you think. But i know where everything's going from here, so expect quicker updates from now on!

Dislcaimer: I own nothing at all. It's all Disney and Dire Straits

* * *

"_**When you can fall for chains of silver/ You can fall for chains of gold /You can fall for pretty strangers/ And the promises they hold" ~ Dire Straits, "Romeo and Juliet"**_

"You killed George Valens?" Horvath gasped when he saw her with the silver amulet. She flung it to the warehouse floor as she walked in, where it cracked upon contact. "You picked him out of the six million other people in this city?"

She half turned, her dark hair flying over her shoulder. "It was easy," she growled. "I wanted revenge and I took it…" She squinted away from the dawn light that was creeping in through one of the high windows. Maeve pointed to it and kept retreating to her dark corner. She settled there, drawing one of the books into her lap but turned her eyes back to Horvath. "George Valens was one of the reasons that I rotted away for a thousand years. And now…he's dead."

"Balthazar is going to know it's you." Horvath reasoned as he pulled the curtain down, coating the warehouse in darkness.

Horvath could barely make out Maeve's outline as she shrugged. "So be it. He'll know you broke me out. He already suspected it I'm sure."

"Balthazar-"

"Is just a stepping stone. He has to know that it's not him I want." She sighed deeply. "Though his head on a plate would be just lovely." She turned to Horvath, eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Horvath didn't say anything for a moment.

"Morgana always said you had a problem with follow through," She growled.

"I betrayed my friends…I betrayed Merlin for her. I proved myself." Horvath insisted in the dark.

"And yet, she never told you about me…? How strange." Maeve mused. "You came to her because you had no other choice. Morgana chose me…"

"You cannot bring her back," Horvath sniffed. "She is gone. You know this."

"She is. And I am her Heir. These mortals will learn to fear my name as they once feared hers." Was the confident reply.

"So, do I get to know your next victim? Or are you keeping that a secret as well?"

"You know the third has to be willingly taken."  
"And I assume you have a plan for this?"

"You are learning."

* * *

In the end, Becky had Andre make the call to the asshole drummer's band to tell them that they had made it into the showcase. She decided that she just didn't want to open that can of worms. Of course, Andre bugged her for a while about it, whining that she wasn't pulling her weight. She almost clocked him for that. With the Fall showcase fast approaching, both she and everyone else at the radio station were busier than ever; calling vendors, caterers, arranging the show's line ups.

"No…" she argued with Andre on her way out of class. "No, I told those assholes, we were going to pay them a thousand, not a cent more! Please don't call me with stuff that we've already decided. " She hung up the phone in a huff and tossed the phone back into her purse. At this point, she was counting down the days until the showcase and she could take a break from planning, maybe sleep for more than six hours a night.

She sped up and crossed the street, dodging between cabs and dark Benzs, to make to Washington Square on time. She and Dave were able to make time to see each other after her class and before his lab they decided after about an hour of debate. But as she got closer to their bench, she noticed a dark haired someone sitting next to Dave. _Strange_ she thought. Not strange that he was talking to someone, but strange that someone was sitting there with him on their bench. Dave even told her that the only other person ever sat with him on that bench beside herself, was Balthazar. And stranger still, the closer she got, and even though the crowds of people, she heard them laughing. She recognized his laugh, not hers.

"Hey," she kept her voice light as she got close enough to see that this girl was in _her_ seat. The girl herself, was maybe a year or two younger than Becky; with long dark hair. She was pale and thin, almost sickly looking, as if she never went outside. She had to keep pushing her glasses farther up her nose, and fastening her fingers around her messenger bag strap.

Becky placed her hand on Dave's shoulder, smiling but wanting to demand why this girl was in her spot. "Who's this?" came out instead.

"Oh, hey Beck." Dave greeted her. "This is Annabelle, she's in Dr. Teara's lab that I'm Ta-ing. Annabelle, this is Becky, my girlfriend."

Annabelle smiled and held out her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too. I hope he's helping you out. I know he's been really busy tutoring lately." Becky grinned.

"He's a good teacher." Annabelle replied with a matching grin of her own.

"Can we stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Dave chuckled. "Besides I've got to go." He stood and kissed Becky's cheek, which made Becky smile bigger than usual. Though, she wasn't sure the reason; after not seeing Dave for at least three days, or that fact that this girl had been laughing with her boyfriend with those huge eyes. "I'll see you guys later." Both Annabelle and Becky waved him off and sat back against the bench, a slightly awkward silence between them. But it didn't last long.

Becky looked up and her heart sank as she recognized a single figure among the thousands of other streaming past her. Not here, not now. The only thing she was thankful for at this point, was that Dave was no where around to see this.

"What?" Annabelle, of course, noted Becky's look of horror and started glancing around in the most obvious way.

"Stop moving," Becky muttered. "Maybe he won't notice."

"Who?"

"Aw shit!" Becky groaned. A tall dark figure stepped up to the bench. He flung back his shoulder length dark hair and smiled as he stood there. "Hey Becky."

"Hi Jared," she plastered a huge fake smile on her face. "How are you?"

He nodded. "Good, good I got a call from the radio station. Made it. Some guy named Andre called. "

"That's awesome," Becky grinned.

"Will I see there, at the showcase?" he wondered.

"Yeah…probably. But I'll be running around like a crazy person."

"Well," Annabelle grabbed her bag, though Becky didn't miss the look in her eyes. One of triumph but it only lasted a moment before it was replaced by one of politeness. "I've got to be going." Annabelle turned to Becky, smiling. "It was nice to meet you." Then to Jared, and Annabelle looked him up and down. "Well, good luck."

* * *

"So that's the girl you were tutoring the other night?" Becky asked later that night when they were studying in the lab. She pulled her sweatshirt a little tighter around herself as it seemingly got colder, though it had rained earlier in the afternoon, Becky could still hear water creaking somewhere, whether in the walls or not. The lights that hung from the rafters cast golden puddles of light on them, the kind that was both comforting and could throw someone's face into sharp relief.

"Her and a few other kids from that lab," Dave replied without looking up from his paper. "I doubt that all of them are going to last the semester."

"What about Annabelle?" Becky wondered, carefully watching his expression. "What's she like?"

"She's smart, kind of intense but nice," He smiled. "Why?"

Becky shrugged. "Just curious that's all."

Dave looked up in realization. "You're jealous…."

"I am not!" Becky smacked his shoulder playfully. "No, I'm not! I think it's nice that you're tutoring them. You know, you being so smart and all."

Dave rolled his eyes. "You're jealous…" he said again, but smiling this time.

"Is it wrong to be curious about the other girls my boyfriend is hanging out with?" Becky wondered breezily.

"It's not like we hang out…" Dave shrugged. "I tutored them and then they treated me to pancakes afterward."

"You did?" Becky sat back, confused. "You didn't tell me that."

"I didn't? I guess I was just exhausted and I forgot…It was just pancakes."

She looked sideways at him. "Okay. If you're sure."

He leaned forward and kissed her once. "I am sure."

A sudden thought flew into her head. "Did you ever figure out who was texting you the other day?"

Dave took out his cell phone and showed it to her. "I have no idea what number this is. You?" He wondered.

She read the numbers 879-4432 and shook her head. "What did they say?"

"That's the weird part. They were empty." He shook the phone as if it would give him some answers. "I think it's time for a new phone."

She was about to agree when there was a knock on the door from the street. Becky watched Dave go up and open the door. And then she heard that voice and that laugh. Sure enough, Annabelle followed Dave down the stairs.

As soon as Annabelle saw Becky, she smiled sweetly. "Oh hi, Becky. Dave didn't tell me you were going to be here."

"Me neither." Becky replied just as sweetly, glaring briefly at Dave.

"I just thought that since you two had met finally, we could all study together." Dave shrugged as he sat down next to Becky again.

Annabelle unpacked a book or two before saying: "Maybe next time we can invite Jared."

Becky's stomach dropped into the floor as Dave asked: "Who's Jared?" He turned to Becky.

"It…he's…..the drummer I met the other night," Becky replied quietly. "I didn't know he went to NYU. He saw me and came over to say 'hi'." Meanwhile, Becky noted that Annabelle

"Oh…" was all Dave said.

Becky grabbed her phone and pretended to check the time. "You know what? I've got to go." She directed at Annabelle, who was not paying attention. "I've got some things at home I've got to take care of." She threw the rest of her books into her bag as Dave stood and followed her.

As soon as they were out of Annabelle's earshot, Dave asked. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

Becky shook her head. "I don't like her."

"You've been sitting in the room with her for five seconds," Dave replied.

"That shit she pulled about Jared, she knew how much it bothered me that he came by today." Becky pointed in Annabelle's direction. "And she knew that it would upset you."

"Why would it upset me?" Dave wanted to know, eyes narrowed.

"What guy wouldn't be upset if he heard that some guy who'd hit on his girlfriend was talking to her again?" Becky hissed.

"What are you talking about? She's not like that." Dave defended.

Becky pressed her hand to her forehead. "You are so naïve! She's playing you!"

"Look," Dave tried to calm her down but she wouldn't have it. "it's just that we haven't seen each other in a while and-"

"Then why did you invite her over here?" Becky retorted.

"I didn't _invite_ her," Dave protested. "I told her that if she needed help she could come by."

Becky rolled her eyes. "Fine. Study with her, then!" She held her hands out in surrender. "You know, you've only met her like a month ago. And you've known me for what ten years? I wonder who you should trust"

Dave stepped back a little. "Is this an ultimatum?"

"No," she crossed her arms over her chest. "No. I just maybe think we should…think about this…"

"What? No….Beck-" he reached out for her but she pushed his hand aside.

"Seriously. You don't do this. You tutored kids over the summer and it wasn't like this. It's like she's got you under a spell or something." She grabbed the door handle, and didn't turn when he didn't say anything. The silence was enough for her.

* * *

uh-oh...trouble in paradise...but they're in college, you tend to do really stupid stuff in college


	9. Chapter 9

_When I saw this quote, I instantly knew I had to use it in this story. It was fate! Anyway, as most of you can tell, this story quickly coming to a close, the next few chapters will be comming out very soon! I hope you guys enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. Its all Disney (which is taking over the world, if you didn't know)_

* * *

_**"The second principle of magic: things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed.**__**"~ **__**James G. Frazer**_

Dave absentmindedly let his pen drift across his fairly empty notebook. He had every intention of paying full attention to Dr. Gibbson, his Quantum Mechanics professor, but as soon as Dr. Gibbson started lecturing, Dave completely zoned out. He's written down a few equations and important little facts and quirks but after about ten minutes, it all faded away.

As it always did, his mind drifted back to Becky. A week had come and gone with no word from her. No texts, no calls, no e-mails, no nothing. It was just a stupid mix up. Becky had to know that Annabelle was just one of his students….she couldn't possibly hold a candle to Becky. Not even for a minute.

But what was she playing at, hiding the fact that she was talking to Jared? She obviously had no intention of telling so. He half wondered what the guy looked like and at the same time, really didn't ever want to find out. And then of course, he realized that tonight was the fall showcase and she'd be around that Jared guy for hours at a time…his mind wandered to very unhappy scenarios.

And so the question remained: what was he going to do? Suddenly the shuffling of feet and papers awoke Dave to the fact that class was over. He looked down and realized that his pages were almost completely empty. He threw his notebook into his bag, slung it over his shoulder, following the rest of the class out, carefully avoiding Dr. Gibbson's gaze.

"Dave?" A high pitched voice called through the crowd. "Dave?"

Dave resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Annabelle caught up with him. "I'm really sor-"

"Annabelle," Dave grabbed her shoulders and stopped her in mid-sentence. "It's not your fault. It's mine."

"But I-"

"Don't." He warned her. "Just don't."

"Is there anything I-"

"its fine," he assured her and started walking again toward the nearest Subway station. The rest of his classes had been canceled for the day, so Balthazar had planned for an all day training session.

"So, you guys are back together?" Annabelle was relentless as she followed him through the subway turnstile and down to the platform.

"We haven't broken up!" Dave insisted.

"So, you're talking?"

"We're not not talking…" Dave protested. "We're just taking a break…" he didn't look back as he boarded his train to Brooklyn and the lab.

Balthazar and Veronica were waiting for him in the lab when he got there. They were talking quietly over the Incantus and one of them had made a 3-D map of New York and they were pointing to different parts of it. Though they broke off when they watched him come in. They exchanged glances as they noticed his rather sullen mood.

"Bad class?" Balthazar wondered.

Dave threw his backpack onto the nearest table. "It was fine." He sighed.

"It doesn't sound fine," Veronica noted as she waved her hand and the map vanished.

"It wasn't the class," Dave told her, running his hand over his face.

Veronica looked at Balthazar who looked back. "Where's Becky?" Veronica wondered. "I haven't seen her in a few days."

Dave considered lying for half a second but decided against it. "We're in a fight."

"What did you do?" Balthazar demanded, stepping around the table.

"Who said it was me?" Dave asked, shocked. But Balthazar gave him the "come on, Dave" look.

"It was a stupid misunderstanding, all right?" Dave retorted. "There was this drummer and he was all 'your boyfriend doesn't have to know about it,' and Becky freaked and then she was angry. Because apparently, Annabelle cast a spell on me! And then….the fall showcase is tonight and Becky and Jared are going to be in the same place and-"

"WHOA!" Balthazar held up his hands. "What are you talking about?"

Dave shook his head. "It's just….stupid. All of it."

"No better way to take your mind off of it than training," Balthazar clapped his hands together. Veronica, though, did not join Balthazar. Instead, she kept reading through the Incantus; flicking through the pages as if trying to find something she once knew.

"Now, cast an illusion," Balthazar wandered around the edge of the training circle.

"Anything in particular?" Dave wondered.

Balthazar shook his head. "Whatever comes to mind."

Dave closed his eyes and held out a hand. Slowly, a figure formed, as if from bits of dust and light from the lab. When Dave was finished he opened his eyes and sighed, and rolled his eyes at himself. Becky stood there, blinking at him, smiling a little. "It is going to be a very long day," he said to himself.

Balthazar chuckled. "You really can't get her off your mind, can you?"

Dave just glared.

"All right then," Balthazar conceded. And so the lesson began.

Like Dave's Quantum Mechanics class, it did not go well. As Veronica and Balthazar were getting ready to leave, Dave's cell phone went off. He flipped it open and was surprised when he saw Becky's number.

"Hey. I'm really sorry about what I said." It read. "I get done with stuff around eleven. Can I meet you at the lab?"

Instantly, Dave texted back: "I'll be there at eleven." He looked up at the pair of them and grinned.

* * *

"Oh. My. God!" Alice shrieked over the music. "Stop moping!"

"I'm not moping!" Becky hissed back as the walkie talkie crackled. She picked it up and had them repeat what they said. She barked back a few orders as the band left the stage. While the house crew and next band were setting up, house music piped in, but Becky ignored it. She also ignored a certain drummer, who'd just finished his set, and who was trying very hard to catch her eye.

So far the fall showcase was going off without a hitch. Three bands had already been on and the crowd was growing with each band. The venue, a club in uptown Manhattan, close to Harlem, was packed in as much as the fire marshal would allow. But thanks to Becky's hard work, it had become quite the show and already Becky's boss was talking about doing it again next year.

"I will say this," Alice patted Becky's hand. "This is quite the shindig. And if every radio station in the country doesn't beg for you after you graduate, then there is something truly wrong with the world."

Becky sighed. "Thanks, I guess."

"STOP MOPING!" Alice hissed. "This is totally awesome and you're missing it!"

"I'm sorry; I'm in a fight with my boyfriend!" Becky shot back. "What the hell else am I supposed to be like? Dancing?"

Alice set down her empty glass. "So, you guys are broken up?"

Becky let out a deep sigh. "I don't know…" She fiddled with the walkie talkie. "Maybe I should call him? I think he would like this and -"

"Uh…he's been seeing that little freshman skank….? Even I would drop him!" Alice insisted. "Even if you take him back, he doesn't deserve a good time for at least six months."

"There's no proof that he's cheating…" Becky shook her head, leaning back in her chair. "And," She looked up at Alice. "I miss him." She'd realized over the last week or so, she hoped that he would have given her a reason why he didn't care about Annabelle, why she shouldn't worry. She'd hoped that he would have said he loved her.

But Alice pretended not to hear. She barreled on: "You know, Mack says Jared is always saying how hot you are …you could always go see him up, have him buy a drink? Get your mind off Dave-"

Becky sat up a little. "You're dating Mack?"  
Alice shrugged. "Sort of. It's really-"

"You know, on second thought," Becky held up her hand. "I don't want to know the details."

"Anyway, now that you're free-"  
"I never said we were breaking up!" Becky sighed. "I just wish I knew what to say to him. I thought he was different."

"So?" Alice nods toward Jared who sat across the bar from them. "Go, see Jared. He'll treat you like a normal boy would."

And then, the sounds of the crowd faded away and Becky could hear the notes of a very familiar song. "…_'Til all my sleeves are stained red/ From all the truth that I've said/Come by it honestly I swear/Thought you saw me wink, no/I've been on the brink, so…."_ She smiled to herself, so hugely Alice looked as if she were questioning Becky's sanity. "What?" She asked, glancing around. "What is it?"_  
_Suddenly a lithe figure appeared, as if by magic, at Becky's side. Becky looked over and smiled at Veronica. "Hey Veronica…" Becky greeted her with a little wave.

"Hello Becky. " Veronica smiled. "I wonder if there is a place where we can speak privately?"

"Yeah," Becky slid off her chair and slipped an arm through Veronica's to make sure they weren't separated. She led Veronica outside and down the street a little ways. "What's up?"

"Are you ready? It's almost eleven."

Becky frowned. "What are you talking about? I'm working."

"Dave told us that you'd be done at eleven." Veronica's frown matched Becky's. "That you were coming by the lab. To talk."

Becky shook her head. "I haven't texted him in a week," then she had another thought. "Are you sure it wasn't that Annabelle bitch?"

"What Annabelle?" Veronica couldn't bring herself to say that word. "Who is she?"

"This girl that Dave's been tutoring…she's a student in his lab. She's got a thing for him. She's the reason we fought."

Veronica had gone white under the street light.

"What?" Becky wondered, stepping closer. "What's wrong?"

"It's her…"Veronica whispered.

"Who?"

"Morgana's Heir." Veronica's eyes were wide. "It's her. She's after Dave." She looked down at her watch and then up, as if someone had called out to her. "There's no time." She growled.

Becky stood there in the lamp light, a shudder working through her. But all the while, she could still hear the piped in club music:_ "Tell me what you want to hear/Something that was like those years/Sick of all the insecurities/I'm gonna give all my secrets away…"_ And she knew what she had to do.

* * *

_as said in my favorite movie: "The shit hath hitteth the fan...eth..." Points to whoever can name me that movie!_


	10. Chapter 10

**_So guys its come down to this! LET'ER RIP!_**

**_Dislcaimer: I own nothing at all!_**

* * *

"_**OK, magic boy, let's see who you really are."~ **__**Edgar Bergen**_

Right on time, Dave heard the lab door open and then close. He stood and was about to call out when the figure that emerged from the shadows.

"Seriously," Dave insisted as Annabelle came down the stairs. "I know you think it was your fault and that you want to make it up to me, but…" He trailed off when he saw the strange look on Annabelle's face. She was just as thin as always, but her face was blazing….in triumph? Her entire being had changed, she moved with confidence, elegance. She paused as she hit the bottom floor. She looked around, her eyes falling upon the training circle. "Interesting…." She noted in a matching tone. "I don't know why I didn't notice it before."

Dave put the nagging feeling of worry to the back of his mind. "Yeah, that's all well and good but Becky's going to be here any minute and she really doesn't want to see you-"

Annabelle giggled. Then those giggles turned into a laugh. A hard cruel laugh. "No, she won't-"

"No," Dave agreed, though slightly unnerved by her laughter. He'd never heard her laugh like that before. "She won't if she sees you."

Annabelle grinned and stepped closer, lining one foot directly in front of the other. "She won't, because she didn't ask you to come here. I did."

"What?"

She began walking around the edge of the circle. "It was easy."

"Oh my god," Dave slapped a hand to his forehead. "I can't believe I didn't see it."

She grinned, her smile growing more feral with every passing second. "Because I didn't want you to."

"You tore me and Becky apart-!"

Annabelle's features seemed to melt away until she eerily resembled Becky, but with obvious flaws. The blue in her eyes weren't quite right, the nose was too long, the blond hair too bright. "I didn't do anything. That was all you."

Dave put up a shield as subtly as he could, as if he could block out her words.

"I admit; I witched your cell phone a few times." Annabelle didn't give any sign that she noticed the shield at all. "Stopped a few calls, a few texts, sent a few of my own. But it was easy. A little doubt and you and that little sensitive tore each other apart."

Dave put it to the back of his mind. "You killed the professor and George Valens…" he began.

"The professor," She sighed as if re-living a particularly delicious meal. "Was because I couldn't help myself. So much knowledge, so easily taken." She tapped her upper lip as she passed through a shadow. When she emerged she was wearing a dark maroon sari, the edges sparkled briefly as if they were woven with silver thread. Her skin was darker, her hair longer but her teeth were white. Dave wasn't sure if it was a trick of a light but they looked pointed. "George Valens was more personal."

"Balthazar knew it was you."

She shrugged. "Balthazar doesn't have what I want." Her eyes flicked up from the floor to him. "You do."

"You want Merlin's Ring but why?" Dave kept thinking that if he could keep her talking he might be able to figure a way out of this. "What do you need a focuser for?"

She tossed a long snakey strand of hair out of her eyes. Her blue eyes narrowed. "Why would you care? You have everything!" A ring of blue fire sprang up around her feet, as if she couldn't control it.

Dave backed away a little. "I just want to understand." Though he'd come a long way with creating shields, he could still feel the heat from the flames.

"You had everything handed to you….I have had to fight for whatever scraps I could. It should have been me!"There was a flash of light and Dave could hear the electricity zing off two or three of the coils.

"But Morgana-"

"Was my master, my teacher. She was there when I had no one else!" Annabelle's face had hollowed out if it was even possible still, her eyes huge. "She was there when my own mother left me! That ring belongs to me!"

"I still don't know-"

Annabelle looked even more like Maeve. "You know your sainted Merlin…? Apparently his saintliness did not extend to his immediate family. His own flesh and blood sister got herself knocked up. So she abandoned her little brat at an inn in North Umbria."

"Look, taking the ring isn't going to change what happened…."Dave insisted.

Annabelle-Maeve smiled. "That ring is my birthright. I am Merlin's direct descendent. You don't even know how to wield it." Dave tried to throw a plasma bolt but she deflected it, almost lazily. "You have no idea what you're actually capable of, are you?"

"No, I'm not capable of murder," Dave retorted.

"And what was it that you did to Morgana?" her grin was predatory. She made a slashing motion with her hand and it smashed Dave's shield. He smacked his head on the cobblestone and saw stars. When they cleared, Annabelle twisted face loomed before him. She pressed her fingers against his chin and lifted him up. A terrifying paralysis shuddered through him as he looked down at her.

"Get your hands off my boyfriend bitch!" Becky's voice rang out in the quiet.

Annabelle half turned but kept a firm grip on Dave. "And what are you going to do, Sensitive?" She snarled.

"You can take me instead…." She stepped down a few stairs.

Dave wanted to protest, but couldn't. Becky didn't even look at him. She kept her eyes trained on Annabelle. All the while though, Dave was screaming in his head: RUN! RUN RUN!

"I know you murdered my professor and George Valens." Becky swallowed hard. "And I know your last victim has to be willingly sacrificed."

Annabelle stepped closer. "You're serious?"

"As a heart attack. Take me instead." Becky held her arms out.

Annabelle grinned at Dave and heaved him backward. He crashed into a far corner but couldn't move for a moment or so. Not that he wanted to but he tried very hard to make his legs listen.

He looked up to see Annabelle seemingly cupping Becky's face in her hands. Becky's eyes were huge, full of fear despite her show of courage earlier. Their eyes met across the lab and Dave could practically hear her saying: "I'm so sorry". Then that same surprise paralysis over took her and her eyes were locked on his. Not because she needed it, but she couldn't move.

"NO!" Dave leapt up, finding the will "Becky!"

As he ran closer, he could see Becky's skin turning gray, her bright blond hair fading. Annabelle-Maeve-Kali's face was alight in triumph and the incoming life force. In that moment, Dave forgot that he was a sorcerer and slammed as hard as he could into Annabelle, knocking her off her feet. Becky slithered to the floor, unconscious.

Annabelle recovered, though shocked, and shot a few plasma blasts that Dave missed narrowly. He scooted back to where Becky lay, shielding them both. He brushed his hand over her cheek, it was cold and Becky didn't so much as twitch.

"I wouldn't worry about the sensitive…" Annabelle hissed, coming closer. "She's not going to wake up!"

Dave concentrated as hard as he could on keeping Annabelle out as she ravaged the shield. And then he had a thought. He closed his eyes and held out his other hand. Instantly Horvath stumbled down the stairs.

Annabelle turned, eyes wide. "What are you doing here? I thought you were standing guard-"Then stopped and turned to Dave. "Oh…very clever, Merlin's Heir."

He shrugged. "I had to try something."

And then another Horvath, the real one, came through the door and fell down quite a few of the stairs and lay in a heap. He was followed by Balthazar and Veronica, to whom Annabelle snarled and withdrew from Dave.

He turned back to Becky. He patted her cheek again, calling her name under his breath. "Beck? Becky? Beck, can you hear me?" But Becky lay there barely breathing. Her blond hair, though not as bright as it was, was fanned out from where she fell. Her skin was dull and gray and cold under his hand. "Becky, wake up! Come on, we gotta go!" But she didn't give any sign that she had heard him or that she knew what was going on. "Come on, Becky please!"

"You!" Annabelle hissed, pointing at Balthazar. "You could have given me that ring long ago and none of this would have happened!"

"You don't have to do this, Maeve." Veronica began calmly, taking a step closer. "Please… Don't hurt them."

Annabelle turned back to Dave and tried to reach through the shield but couldn't. "What-?"

But Dave didn't really care anymore. In fact, he'd forgotten he'd put up a shield in the first place. He was still focused on Becky and trying anyway he could to bring her back around. He didn't even look up when Annabelle started slashing at the shield which had grown taller and sparkled like diamonds every time she came in contact with it.

Annabelle gave a shriek of rage and slashed at it again. It stayed firmly in place. She glared at Dave. "What have you done?"

"You can't touch them," Balthazar told her.

Annabelle hissed at him. "Watch me!" She closed her eyes and begins to chant something under her breath. She didn't get very far. With within about two words, she was blasted off her feet as Veronica and Balthazar came down the stairs. She landed in a heap in the far corner of the lab.

Veronica knelt down next to Dave and Becky, while Balthazar kept Annabelle at bay "Oh my…." She muttered as she ran her hand over Becky's still cheek.

"What's wrong with her?" Dave asked.

"Parasite Spell." Veronica whispered. "But it wasn't completed. She's still there." She grabbed his arm and yanked him up.

"No!" He pulled his arm out of her reach. "No, I can't leave her! Not like this!"

"She'll be fine for now." Veronica hissed. "But we have to take Maeve out. If we do, Becky will get better."

"Promise?" Dave glanced at Becky.

"I promise."

They took their places on either side of Balthazar. Annabelle screeched her rage at them, while a storm of white hot electricity zapped the cobblestone floor. Dave glanced back to be sure Becky was all right and as he returned his attention back to Annabelle, he could have sworn that he saw Horvath move. He pulled up a shield just to be sure.

Balthazar nodded in the direction of the coils, Veronica grinned. And then of course it clicked to Dave. Annabelle needed that last sacrifice to be stable. The outburst of fire earlier and electricity just now was evidence of her lack of control.

Veronica held up three fingers behind her back. Both Balthazar and Dave nodded. Slowly she pulled one finger up. Annabelle engulfed half the lab in the same shiny azure flames, screaming her wrath. Veronica pulled back her second finger.

Suddenly Annabelle stopped, frozen in place. There was a crack of lightning and the whole lab was engulfed in bright white light.

"NOW!" Balthazar shouted. Dave could barely make out for the Tesla coil closest to him but he aimed anyway.

There was another crack and then total silence. When the light cleared, the only thing left in the corner where Annabelle was, was the dark maroon sari and the belt with skulls. It didn't even really register with Dave.

He ran back to Becky who was still just as still and gray as she was when she landed there on the ground. "Becky…" He lifted her up just a little, but her head tilted back. "Beck…?" Balthazar leaned down and clapped a comforting hand on his shoulder. Veronica ran her hand above Becky's still face.

**Dave** looked up to Veronica, hoping for anything. "She's there…Talk to her."

"Becky?" he lifted one blond curl off her face. "Becky? Can you hear me?" He noticed though, that Veronica and Balthazar moved away from them. They were examining where Horvath once was and the infamous maroon sari.

Dave swallowed hard. "Becky…I'm so sorry. This is all my fault… I don't know why I didn't believe you…I was stupid." Still she didn't move. But he could have sworn that she took a deep breath in. But she didn't do it again. Now it was time to bring out the big guns, he realized. "I really hope you can hear me….I love you. I always have."

"…Took you long enough." Becky murmured.

Dave looked down and Becky was smiling weakly in his arms. He ran his hand over her forehead, pushing the long curls away from her face. "I told you I was stupid."

She took a deep breath in. And then another. Dave wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or not but he thought he saw the color return to her cheeks. "God, I feel like I got hit by a bus. Where's Annabelle?"

"Gone. Thanks to you."

"You helped a little." She gripped his arm with her returning strength. She ran her fingers up to his neck and pulled him down to her.

"I'm really glad you're okay," he whispered.

"Please shut up!" She hissed and kissed him.

* * *

**_Ahhhhh...one more chapter to go. Just an epilogue! Don't worry all your questions will be answered there!_**


	11. Epilogue

And so ends another story... Enjoy! Oh and there's a much longer A/N at the end. Oh and the song, mentioned below, totally helped with this story. I suggest listening to it while you read this chapter. And the Irish song at the end, not mine at all and I totally made up whatever tradition it was...I think...anyway dont quote me on it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

* * *

**_Epilogue_**

"_**Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want/We're young enough to say…/Oh this has gotta be the good life/This has gotta be the good life/ This could really be a good life, good life…"~ OneRepublic, "Good Life"  
**_

It was an oddly balmy November afternoon, Becky realized. It was nearly seventy degrees; an oddity for New York City so close to Thanksgiving. Normally, Becky would have covered herself with her thickest pair of jeans, boots, a hoodie and a scarf. Possibly even her winter jacket. Instead, she stood next to Dave in a summery strapless indigo bridesmaid dress in the middle of Central Park. In one hand she held a bouquet of bluebells, lavender and stargazer lilies. In the other, she held Dave's, something that they'd been doing a lot since October.

They stood under the Greywacke Arch, near the Reservoir, and it had been draped with matching bluebells and stargazer lilies. Becky had to suppress a laugh when the Justice appeared about an hour ago. He gaped at how they were able to get so many flowers out of season. She assumed that someone, probably Balthazar, would alter the man's memory sometime soon. It was a quiet sort of ceremony, for a quiet sort of day. The sun was out, briefly, possibly due to one or more of the many sorcerers present Becky thought, just like the balmy out of season weather. Just the sort of day Veronica had wanted.

It had taken Veronica and Becky weeks to find the right dress. Finally in a second hand store in Brooklyn, near Becky's apartment, they'd stumbled across one that was perfect with a square neck line, although strapless, with a simple lace over throw with a thread of blue running through it. And after that it all fell into place.

Becky looked over at Dave and smiled; he was so cute in his blue suit, the one that she had picked out herself.

"What?" He mouthed. She shook her head but smiled even bigger and refocused her attention behind her.

Earlier Becky and Dave watched the gathering of sorcerers, Ila, Hari and Estella among them and they sat in the front row. Not that there was a ton of people, only fifty or so. Nearly all of them had come to pay their respect to George Valens, the ceremony for which, they held a week before.

When the New York official, the only non-sorcerer present besides herself, announced them husband and wife, there was a burst of gold sparks from the crowd. The justice stared stupidly, his memory must have already been altered, she realized. Following Balthazar and Veronica down to the reception, which had been set up by the reservoir, Dave held tight to her hand and they hung back until they could barely see the crowd disappearing around one of the curves.

"You okay?" He wondered. "Not too tired?"

"No!" She insisted. "I'm fine. Really." In the month since Annabelle's (and Horvath's for that matter) disappearance, it took a while for Becky to regain her strength back. Veronica had banished her to bed rest, or couch rest (she and Balthazar had drawn up one in the lab). "I got a full twelve hours of sleep last night."

He looked sidelong at her. "The second you feel too tired, we're out of there."

Becky shook her head in disbelief. "You're impossible, you know?"

Dave only shrugged. They'd had this conversation far too many times in the past two weeks. "What else am I supposed to do? Watch you pass out again?"

Becky rolled her eyes. Okay, she overdid it once or twice when she had been out shopping with Veronica and had passed out once, almost twice. "I haven't in two weeks! I'm fine!"

"Can we please keep it that way?" Dave pleaded with a laugh.

"If you can answer a question."

"Shoot."

"How come Annabelle couldn't get to us? You know when I was unconscious?"

He looked down at her. "You knew about that?"

She nodded. "I was aware of some of it; I just was trapped in this coma thing. I blacked out a little at the beginning, after she grabbed me, then I was on the ground hearing her scream and then…" she blushed a little in the fading light. "You."

"I asked Balthazar about that. And he thinks that since her last victim had to be willingly sacrificed-"

"Right, he and Veronica told me that before we got there." Becky interrupted.

"There would be someone who couldn't stand the idea," he smiled at her. "That loved her too much to let her go without a fight. And since Annabelle-Maeve, whoever she was, couldn't comprehend that kind of love, she couldn't do anything about it. Combine that with three people who loved you…she didn't stand a chance."

"So she created her own destruction? Interesting theory." She wrapped her arms around his waist as his came around her shoulders. The sun was starting to set and they could see the lights hanging inside and around the bright white tents, reflecting gold and green on the surface of the reservoir. "I have another question."

He play-groaned all the while tightening his grip on her shoulders. "Fine, fine!"

"Why didn't you tell me you loved earlier?"

"It's not like I didn't try. The timing was just never right."

"So the timing was only good if my life was on the line?" But she smiled.

"Come on Beck, you know it's not like that." He insisted as they got closer. "I tried for weeks before."

"When did you know for sure?"

Dave cocked his head to one side, thinking. "Probably the first time I saw you-"

"Last year when you were teaching that class?" She wondered.

"No, I meant when we were ten."

She shoved him a little. "Bullshit!" She laughed and it echoed in the near empty park.

"I'm serious," he grabbed her hand and reeled her back in. "I am. Since we were ten."

She stopped and slipped her arms up around his neck. "Doesn't matter," she whispered. "We're here now. That's what matters."

"So, you love me too then?"

She kissed him once. "Didn't I already say it today?"

"Once is never enough."

"Come on, they're going to be missing us," She pulled him along a little faster as the sun sank farther and farther down.

When they finally got to their places, Balthazar and Veronica were already dancing (and completely oblivious to the fact that Becky and Dave were late) to a song that Becky had found while she was studying for her Introduction to Celtic Music class. Traditionally, Veronica told her, it was a prayer that was chanted at a wedding. So Becky had tracked down a lovely song version for the wedding. "_….May the road rise to meet you/ May the wind be always at your back/ May the sun shine warm upon your face/and the rain fall soft upon your fields/And until we meet again my friend/May God hold you in the hollow (palm) of his hand…."_

"So, I have a question for you," Dave whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Why were you looking at me earlier?" He wondered.

"Am I not allowed to look at my boyfriend, whom I love?" She laughed.

"No really. Why?"

"Because I have awesome taste." She grinned.

"In suits or boyfriends."

She leaned over and kissed him. "Both," she replied.

"_But rich or poor, quick or slow,/May you know nothing but happiness/From this day forward./May the joys of today/Be those of tomorrow…."_

When a faster paced song, another that Becky had picked, came up, more people went to dance. Like that other that could bring her back from the brink of making stupid decisions, would always remind her of this night. And that it was the good life, what she had with Dave.

"Do you want to?" Dave asked, noticing how her eyes followed several couples as they whirled about, with Veronica and Balthazar in the center.

"No," she whispered. "I just want to be here with you."

He smiled, put his arm around her to pull her close and they watched the November night fold in around them.

* * *

YAY! Happy endings. I'm a sucker for them, in case you didn't know and no, I won't be writing a sequel to this, if some one else wants to take it up, you're more than welcome to it and I'd be happy to help if you want it. But for now I want to focus more on my own orginial work. I really hope to one day write an actual novel and have it actually published.

...Anywho, I'd like to thank all my readers and reviewers, all your praise and patience with me! I love finishing stories and I don't always do it. But with help and praise I know i can get through it. I'd like to thank all of you for helping me achieve this.

And with that, I take me leave.

Happy Reading to all and to all a good life ;)

T.R.P.D


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